A Missouri police officer who was still in training was shot and killed after encountering a wanted man Wednesday morning.
Blaize Madrid-Evans, a 22-year-old officer in training with the Independence Police Department, was shot and killed by a man wanted by police on an outstanding warrant. Madrid-Evans graduated from the police academy in July and was a participant in the department's field training program.
The officer and his partner responded to a report of a man with a gun who then fired at them, the Missouri State Highway Patrol told The Associated Press.
Madrid-Evans was shot and the other officer returned fire, police said. Madrid-Evans was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. The man who fired at the officers was identified by the highway patrol as Cody L. Harrison, 33, of Gladstone. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records show Harrison was a convicted felon sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2011 to firing a weapon at a motor vehicle. The AP reported that Harrison was released in July 2018 but then was returned to prison in November 2020 after violating his parole, according to a Missouri Department of Corrections official.
That official confirmed that Harrison was released on parole again May 24 but was facing reincarceration after being charged with burglary and theft.
Resident Connie Donahoo told a TV station after the shooting: ''Everybody's on edge. We just want peace and quiet in our city.''
Independence Mayor Eileen Weir thanked officers and other first responders for their service in a statement released Wednesday.
''We are ever hopeful that their daily interactions with the public will be peaceful so that they might return home to their families safely at the end of their shift. Today, that was not the case,'' the statement said.
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