Shot after coming at officer with knife, investigators say Kansas man cuts his own throat
AUGUSTA (KSNT) - An officer-involved shooting Friday in Augusta ended with a man cutting his own throat and going to the hospital in serious condition, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
A lone Augusta Police Department officer went to a Phillips 66 gas station in the town to investigate an open-line 911 call. No one spoke on the phone, but they also did not hang up. The KBI said the officer found the caller, who told them a man inside the gas station's convenience store, 49-year-old Barrye W. Lightner Jr., had felony warrants for his arrest.
When the officer went inside the store around 8:25 p.m. and tried to talk to him, Lightner pulled out a knife. The KBI said Lightner ignored several commands the officer gave him, and then moved towards the officer with the knife. The officer responded by shooting him in the hands, and Lightner then cut his own throat with the knife.
Medical crews came to the scene and gave life-saving care to Lightner before taking him to a Wichita hospital. At the last update from the KBI, he remained in serious but stable condition. The officer wasn't hurt during the encounter with Lightner.
The KBI said it is conducting an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting, and will turn over its findings to the Butler County Attorney for review.
Lightner is a registered violent offender in the Kansas Adult Supervised Population Electronic Repository. A Sedwick County court previously convicted him of charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2019, and burglary, criminal damage to property and stalking in 2020.