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A civil process server serving an eviction notice and a police officer who responded to a call for help were killed Thursday in Independence, Missouri, authorities said.
The shooting happened at a home in the area of Elsea Smith and Bundschu Road, the Independence Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman called the fallen officer a “hero.”
“He did exactly what the men and women of law enforcement are called to do day in and day out. And I could not be more proud of him and his service to this community,” the chief said during an afternoon news conference.
The civil process server who was killed worked for the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County, authorities said.
Two other Independence police officers were wounded but are expected to make full recoveries, Dustman said.
A male suspect was in custody, the chief said.
Judge Jalilah Otto with the 16th Circuit Court, said the court employee killed had more than a dozen years on the job and was “simply doing his job — serving eviction papers.”
Otto called the civil process server “a true public servant.”
A call came across the radio about an officer down at 1:09 p.m. local time, the police spokesperson said.
Corporal Justin Ewing with Missouri State Highway Patrol said Thursday in a separate media briefing, that more than one process server was at the home when one was fatally wounded. That’s when Independence police were called to assist, which led to additional gunfire.
Capt. Jake Becchina, with the Kansas City, Missouri, police, said that his department’s tactical unit had surrounded the home to keep neighbors safe. No one with the unit had made it inside the home where the eviction notice was being served, and it was unknown, late Thursday afternoon, whether anyone else was in there, Becchina said.
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