Blaize Madrid-Evans, the 22-year-old Independence officer shot and critically wounded during an armed encounter with a Gladstone man late Wednesday morning, has died of his injuries, according to police.
"It is with heavy hearts that we announce that this evening, Officer Blaize Madrid-Evans succumbed to his injuries and passed away," the department said in a statement on Twitter late Wednesday night, adding that further information would be released later to provide his family and "his family in blue privacy in this difficult time."
Madrid-Evans was wounded during an exchange of gunfire involving the suspect, who was also killed. Officers responded to the shooting around noon in the 2400 block of South Northern Boulevard. Madrid-Evans was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
Madrid-Evans was a rookie officer with only two months on the street. Independence police say Madrid-Evans began his career with the force as a cadet with the Kansas City Regional Police Academy in January 2021. He graduated from the academy in July and was still in the police department's field training program when he was killed, police said.
The Missouri 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 the suspect who fired a handgun at them, striking Madrid-Evans, Bell said. The other officer returned fire and shot the suspect.
Missouri troopers separately named the suspect killed during the shooting as 33-year-old Cody L. Harrison of Gladstone.
The Star's Glenn E. Rice, Aaron Torres and Luke Nozicka contributed to this report.
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