Post last updated at 5:33 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6:
A woman was shot and killed Thursday night in a home south of Eudora, and the suspected shooter was also found dead in the home after barricading himself inside for several hours, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Jay Armbrister told reporters during a press conference Friday afternoon that deputies had been called to the home in the 900 block of East 2300 Road for an unknown emergency around 8:50 p.m. Thursday.
Update:
• Sheriff’s office names woman killed south of Eudora, suspected shooter, Dec. 7, 2024
The female caller was very hard for the dispatcher to understand but said she needed help and was having breathing problems, Armbrister said.
The first officer on scene, a Eudora police officer, got to the house, made it to the door and heard a gunshot from inside the home. The officer also heard a male voice, Armbrister said. The officer retreated.
They were quickly able to establish phone contact with the man, Armbrister said.
The suspect was “overtly hostile,” threatening to shoot officers, and he’d barricaded himself inside the home, Armbrister said, but no one else was in the home, and no one else was at risk. They began negotiations, he said.
“This went on all night,” Armbrister said.
They “used some technology to enter the home” and found an “obviously deceased” woman inside, Armbrister said. They believe she was the woman who had called 911.
Late Friday morning, deputies lost phone contact with the suspect and had not regained it, Armbrister said. They were trying to be slow and methodical, working “slowly and very carefully,” Armbrister said.
The incident was still considered an ongoing and active threat, but no one was in danger outside of the residence, Armbrister said.
After the press conference, deputies were trying to communicate with the suspect via a bullhorn, telling him to come out the front door.
Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, the Kansas Highway Patrol made entry into the home and found the suspect dead, according to an evening update from the sheriff’s office.
The man, 52, had shot and killed the woman, 44, the preliminary investigation showed, according to the release. It was not immediately clear how the man had died.
Armbrister would not confirm the identity of the woman until the incident was resolved. He described the relationship as “domestic.” He said he’s been in contact with family members.
The later update from the sheriff’s office said that “Pending notification of family members, identification of the victim and suspect will be released later.”
Friday morning, the sheriff’s office had said in a statement that “The DGSO and area law enforcement agencies are on the scene of a suspected shooting that occurred Thursday night south of Eudora. There is no public danger to those beyond the property in the 900 block of E 2300 Road, and deputies have blocked roads in the area.”
This post will be updated if more information is released.
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Molly Adams (she/her), photojournalist and news operations coordinator for The Lawrence Times, can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com. Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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