A police detective in Kansas City, Kansas, was shot and killed Monday by a man who fled in the detective’s car and was later taken into custody, police said.
Police Chief Terry Zeigler identified the officer in a tweet posted early Tuesday as “Det. Lancaster.” CNN affiliate KMBC-TV, citing the Kansas Fraternal Order of Police, gave the officer’s full name as Brad Lancaster.
He was assisting officers in a suspicious person call near Hollywood Casino when he was shot. He was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center where he died, the police department said.
The search for suspect Curtis Ayers led to a road closure, traffic delays and school lockouts in the Bonner Springs/Edwardsville Unified School District 204.
Ayers ditched the detective’s car and picked up two more before police caught up with him Monday afternoon, police spokeswoman Amber Thomas said.
One of those cars had two children inside. They were not harmed, Thomas said.
The suspect wrecked a third vehicle at Bannister Road and 71 Highway, where officers with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department shot him and took him into custody.
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Mark Holland honored Lancaster in a Facebook post Monday night.
“This detective demonstrated that bravery, and his sworn commitment to keeping us safe, when he attempted to stop a carjacking near Kansas Speedway earlier this afternoon,” Holland wrote. “He stood in harm’s way to do his job and lost his life in the process.”