KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City, KS police officer has died after being struck by a car during a chase early Tuesday, according to the police department. The KCK Police Chief identified the officer as Hunter Simoncic, 26.
As KMBC News 9 reported, the officers were investigating a report of shots fired shortly after midnight. An officer stopped a car in the area and said they saw the driver had a gun, the driver then sped off.
A chase ensued and another officer, Simoncic, attempted to put down stop sticks near the Kansas City Kansas Community College. Police said while that officer was out of his car, the suspect driver intentionally drove into him. That driver eventually crashed.
Simoncic was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries, and later died.
The fleeing driver, identified as Dennis Mitchell, 31, was also injured and is in custody.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is taking over the investigation of the events that led up to the crash.