Kansas City, Kansas, officer dies after shot in police car

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A suspect in a drive-by shooting fatally shot a 17-year veteran of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department on Tuesday as the officer was sitting in his patrol car, police said.

Capt. Robert Melton, 46, was searching for the suspect when he drove up to someone who matched that person’s description just before 2 p.m., police spokesman Tom Tomasic said. Before Melton could get out of his vehicle, the suspect opened fire and hit the officer multiple times, Tomasic said. The alleged shooter was caught five minutes later about a block away, he said.

A police spokeswoman said the suspect was being questioned Tuesday evening along with two other people suspected in the initial drive-by shooting. Police weren’t releasing the suspects’ names because charges hadn’t been filed.

Melton was brought to the University of Kansas Hospital just before 2:30 p.m., but resuscitation efforts did not work, trauma surgeon James Howard said at a news conference.

“There’s a lot of pain and brokenness in our community and our nation right now, and we just want to ask everyone to be prayerful and thoughtful right now,” Mayor Mark Holland of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County said.

It’s the second time a Kansas City, Kansas, police officer has been shot and killed this year; in early May, a detective was fatally shot near the Kansas Speedway.

Tuesday’s shooting came after police responded to a report around 1:30 p.m. from a person who said several people in a car were firing shots.

The suspect vehicle took off as police arrived, but it crashed into a fence and the occupants bailed out at 1:36 p.m., Tomasic said. Two people were taken into custody within three minutes of the wreck, he said.

Melton was driving around looking for the third suspect when he came upon a person who matched the suspect’s description, Tomasic said.

Police had been looking for a fourth suspect, but there was some indication that the person was not involved, Tomasic said.

“The last thing I heard was that the fourth person they thought they were looking for, they’re not thinking he didn’t have anything to do with it,” Tomasic said.

Police Chief Terry Zeigler tweeted just after 2 p.m. that an officer had been shot and asked for prayers to start immediately.

Authorities said another news conference is planned for Wednesday morning.