Recent police academy graduate fatally shot after responding to call in Missouri
Just months after he graduated from the police academy, a 22-year-old officer died Wednesday after a suspect shot him in Missouri, authorities said.
"It is with heavy hearts that we announce that this evening, Officer Blaize Madrid-Evans succumbed to his injuries and passed away," the Independence Police Department said.
Madrid-Evans started his career with the agency at the Kansas City Regional Police Academy on Jan. 4 and graduated July 8. He was training with the department's Field Training Officer program when he responded to a call.
Details on what led to the call and what happened after Madrid-Evans got to the scene were not released.
Officer Critically Injured pic.twitter.com/HIII9U8DJ4
— Independence Police (@ipdinfo) September 15, 2021
The man suspected of opening fire on the officer was also shot and killed.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the incident, identified the suspect as Cody L. Harrison, 33, of Gladstone, Missouri.
"No further information will be released this evening as we give the officer’s family and his family in blue privacy in this difficult time," the Independence Police Department tweeted Wednesday night.
