Salina Police Officer Shot In Face, Suspect In Shooting Dead

A Salina Police Officer is in a Oklahoma City Hospital receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to the face while he and other officers were responding to a home where a car that was reported stolen late Thursday night was found.

Salina Police Chief Jim Hill released the following statement during a briefing with the media Friday morning:

At 2328 hours on September 27th, Dispatch advised that a 2004 Gold Cadillac was taken from 1114 N. 5th, and that the vehicle was either possibly involved in a civil matter or stolen. The suspect was identified as 19-year-old Marjion Gadson, and was reportedly armed with a handgun.

At 2332 hours, the reporting party advised that the Cadillac was behind 308 N. 13th.

Officers arrived at the house and were told the suspect was in the basement by individuals exiting the dwelling.

When all attempts to contact the suspect failed, five officers entered the house from the west side. The officers repeatedly announced their presence and identifed themselves. Gadson responded by firing multiple shots at them, striking one officer, a 10-year veteran of the department in the face. One officer returned fire as the other officers went to the fallen officer’s aid. They backed out of the residence and called for an ambulance and summoned the Special Response Team.

After repeated attempts throughout the night to talk with the suspect by various means were unsucessful, tear gas was deployed into the residence. The SRT entered the house and found Gadson dead in the basement.

Upon Request of the Salina Police Department the Kansas Bureau of Investigation will be conducting the investigation into the case.

The injured officer whose name has not yet been released, walked to the ambulance, then taken to Salina Regional Health Center, then transferred by EMS to a Wichita Hospital, before being sent to a hospital in Oklahoma City.