SHAWNEE COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday morning in Topeka.
The Topeka Police Department contacted the KBI just before 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 24, to request assistance investigating the shooting. KBI agents and the Crime Scene Response Team (CSRT) responded to the scene.
At approximately 9 a.m. on Friday, officers from the Topeka Police Department (TPD) responded to the area of 4th St. and SE Holliday, near the railroad, after 911 callers reported that a male subject armed with a knife had threatened them. The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office and BNSF Police Department also responded to the incident.
Preliminary information indicates that when officers arrived, they located the man and attempted to convince him to put down the knife. As they negotiated with him, he cut himself several times with his knife. Law enforcement officers deployed bean bag rounds and used other less than lethal methods to try to subdue the man. These efforts were unsuccessful and at around 10 a.m., the man charged toward a group of officers with the knife. Three officers from TPD fired toward the man striking him multiple times.
Officers secured the knife and rendered aid to the man. EMS transported him to Stormont Vail Hospital where he died from his injuries.
At this time, law enforcement is still working to positively identify the man, and to make family notifications.
The KBI will conduct a thorough and independent investigation into this incident. Once the investigation concludes, the findings will be turned over to the Shawnee County District Attorney for review.
This investigation is ongoing. No further information will be released at this time.