Independence police officer survives surgery after being shot in the head Wednesday

[RV ME]

Tom is an acquaintance of mine, met him through other friends on the Independence Police Dept.  Married with two children.  Been told he survived the surgery, but prognosis is still too soon to tell.   Praying for his family and his full recovery.  RV ME

Independence police officer survives surgery after being shot in the head Wednesday

 

 

An Independence police officer has survived surgery after being shot in the head as he responded to a home burglary, The Star has learned.

His family and pastor were with him at the hospital.

The officer was shot around 10 a.m. and underwent surgery that lasted several hours.

Two people were in custody after the incident, said Independence police Capt. Carl Perry said at a media briefing about 2:20 p.m.

An officer was responding to a burglary in progress about 10 a.m. in the 3600 block of South Delaware Avenue. When officers arrived, the burlgars fled and shot at officers. Police returned fire.

One officer was shot —reportedly in the head — and was rushed to a hospital.

The suspects fled in a car and led police on a short chase to the area of 23rd Street and South Cedar Avenue. When one person bailed out of the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot, he reportedly was holding a handgun.

An Acura SUV with flattened tires landed in the median on 23rd Street.

Police took the subject and another person into custody.

The officer had survived surgery Wednesday afternoon, The Star has learned.

The officer’s family pastor was with the family at the hospital all day.

Immediately after the shooting, police set up a large crime scene at 36th and Delaware. As heavy rain fell Wednesday morning, about 20 police and law enforcement vehicles lined the street.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker was at the scene. Independence Police Chief Brad Halsey was out of town Wednesday morning and trying to get a flight back to Independence.

A large number of officers and crime scene investigators from multiple agencies collected evidence from a house that sustained extensive damage during the incident.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for the house on Delaware Avenue after the incident.

They picked through debris, collecting evidence. The door to the garage, which was on the side of the house, was missing a the lower portions.

The house, in a residential neighborhood, is near Luff Elementary School.

By after 1 p.m., a drone flew over the crime scene at 36th and Delaware.

Neighbor Tracy Crookham said she and her daughter saw and heard police shoot into the home that was burglarized.

Crookham said officers surrounded a garage and fired at least seven shots into the garage and then pulled out two suspects.

“All of a sudden we heard these gunshots,” Crookham said.

The injured officer was rushed away in an ambulance.

“I was nervous. I had my daughter in the house,” she said. “It was very scary. It was happening in the back of our house.”

A neighbor of Crookham’s, Kathy Tempel, said she was feeding her grandson when she heard, “Boom. Boomb. Boom.”

“I thought it was a transformer but they were gunshots,” Tempel said.

She yelled to police that she was inside of her house with a child. Police ordered her to stay inside and take cover.

Support for the injured office started pouring in on social media from surrounding police agencies.

 

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article141426194.html

[SnowGlobe7]

prayers up.....

[Texstorm]

Thanks RVME ! God's speed to him and his family in that he can one day he will be whole again ! 

[bigwave]

My little sister got shot in the head by an illegal alien and I prayed for her to die. and through the grace of God she did.

Once the tissue is damaged the person is never whole.

Just ask Jim Brady, who lived for 33 years after he got shot in the head.

So sad.

Peace for the family.

[SnowGlobe7]

and yours bigwave

[pattyangel]

I pray for all our Peace Makers!!!!

How's he doing RV ME?

[RV ME]

Man beaten, held at gunpoint believes he’d be dead if Independence officers hadn’t come to help

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- The homeowner injured in the violent home invasion Wednesday in which an Independence police officer was shot, is grateful to Officer Tom Wagstaff for coming to help him. He believes if police hadn't responded, he'd be dead.

"I would tell him how sorry I am, and that our prayers and thoughts are with him and to get well," said Don Fowler.

Fowler, 82, says the only reason he's able to do an interview with FOX 4, is because the heroes in blue came to his home Wednesday to save him.

"Physically I will get well, emotionally it is going to take some time because it happened right here in this house, right by where we are taking this interview," said Don Fowler. "I firmly believe that they saved my life and that they intervened and stopped what was going on."

Police say Joseph E. Wyatt, 28, and Ronar Santiago-Torres, 27, went to Fowler's home to rob Fowler, restrained him and held him at gunpoint. The men repeatedly struck him, and the wounds are still visible on his face and arms.

Thankfully, Fowler's friend was watching his home's surveillance cameras at the time. She saw two men with stocking caps and bandannas covering their faces, beating Don Fowler. She dialed 911 in a panic, telling the dispatcher to get police to the 3600 block of Delaware.

When the men heard police sirens they fled in Fowler's car. When they crashed through the garage door, Wagstaff was outside, and was injured by gunfire. According to a police source, he was shot in the head.

Fowler says when he heard police sirens outside his home, at first he didn't really think they were coming to help him.

"I don't believe that's for me, but it was," he said. "And that's when I was very thankful that this was coming to a close maybe."

Jackson County prosecutors filed charges against four men.

Wyatt and Santiago-Torres are both charged with first-degree robbery,  armed criminal action, first-degree burglary and kidnapping. Prosecutors have requested a bond of $500,000 cash for each. Prosecutors added assault against a law enforcement charges on Thursday afternoon against the suspects.

Prosecutors also charged two more men in this case. James McChan, 56, and Donald Nussbaum, 51, face first degree robbery, armed criminal action, first degree burglary and kidnapping charges for allegedly acting as accomplices. They'll be held on $500,000 bonds as well.

Donald Nussbaum is the son of the friend of Don Fowler's, whom we mentioned above, who called police after seeing what was happening on his surveillance cameras.(Read her comments about the crime and her son here.) She did not want to be identified. She says she has been estranged from Nussbaum for years, but that he would sometimes do yard work for Fowler.

"I am here and I am glad to be here but the real concerns is with the officer and with his family," said Fowler.

Expect continuing coverage on fox4kc.com. If you’re a Facebook user, check our Facebook page for live reports there as well. Download the app for news in between FOX 4 newscasts.

As of Friday, Officer Wagstaff was still in critical condition. Officers from around the metro gathered Wednesday night to pray for his recovery. Officer Wagstaff is married with two boys.

A fund has been set up for Officer Wagstaff. If you would like to help his family, make out checks to 'Answering the Call.'

Send them to:

Independence Police Department
223 N. Memorial Drive
Independence, MO 64050
Attention: Officer L Virgil

Or deliver checks or cash to:
Greater KC Public Safety Credit Union
19341 East US 40 Highway.

The fund is a 501c first-responder non-profit fund. Every donation dollar will go directly to the family.

 

http://fox4kc.com/2017/03/31/man-beaten-held-at-gunpoint-believes-hed-be-dead-if-independence-officers-hadnt-come-to-help/