Ex-Kansas officer who sued sheriff's deputy killed by police
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas police detective, who last year sued a sheriff's deputy for running over him in a rural field, has been fatally shot by a police officer in Kansas City after disarming another officer and pointing the service weapon at both of them, police said Tuesday.
Lionel Womack was killed during the encounter Monday after police received 911 calls about a man standing in a road pointing at the sky and trying to jump in front of traffic.
“Those officers had no choice — this whole incident took place in 26 seconds," Police Chief Karl Oakman said at a news conference.
When officers arrived, Womack started running toward them in “an aggressive manner," Oakman said, adding that the entire encounter was captured on police body camera and dashcam video.
Womack attempted to get into the passenger side of the police car then ran around the vehicle where he came into contact with an officer. Womack reached toward the back of his pants and the officer — assuming he had a gun — drew his weapon, Oakman said. Womack then got into the driver's seat of the patrol car, and the same officer tried to get him out.
A fight ensued over the officer's weapon, which discharged two shots. Womack successfully disarmed the officer and pointed the weapon at that officer before then pointing it at the other officer, who shot and killed Womack. In the video, one officer can be heard saying to the other, “Man, you just saved my life,” the police chief said.
The two officers received non life-threatening injuries.
“He knows our tactics,” Oakman said. “I think that contributed to his ability to disarm our officer, which made it a very dangerous situation for our officers.”
Womack was hired by the Kansas City, Kansas, police department in 2007, promoted to detective in...