Missouri State Highway Patrol identifies man killed during Independence police shootout

Bill Lukitsch
·1 min read
Police officers were on the scene of an officer involved shooting Wednesday afternoon near 78 Highway and South Northern Blvd. in Independence.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has identified the man killed late Wednesday morning in an exchange of gunfire with Independence police — during which an officer was also shot and severely wounded — as 33-year-old Cody Harrison.

Harrison, of Gladstone, was named Wednesday night after his family was notified of his death, the state agency said in a statement. He was pronounced dead on the scene of the shooting that unfolded as Independence police officers were responding to a service call in the 2400 block of South Northern Boulevard.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is leading the shooting investigation. Sgt. Andrew Bell, a patrol spokesman, said at about 11:30 a.m., two Independence Police Department officers responded to a nearby residence after receiving a tip that a “person may have been wanted for something.” Bell did not detail what the tip was but said examining it would be part of the highway patrol’s investigation into the shooting.

The officers were then met by a suspect who fired a handgun at them, striking one of them, Bell said. The other officer returned fire and shot the suspect, Bell said.

The wounded Independence officer has been identified as Blaize Madrid-Evans, a 22-year-old trainee with a little more than two months on the street. Madrid-Evans graduated from the Kansas City Kansas City Regional Police Academy in July and was still being taught the role of a police officer through the department’s field training program, Independence police said.

Madrid-Evans was still hospitalized in critical condition on Wednesday night.

The Star’s Glenn E. Rice, Luke Nozicka and Aaron Torres contributed to this report.