Wyanotte County Kansas Sheriff's Deputy Killed in Shootout: ' He Loved His Family So Much'

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Kansas City, Kansas, man in the fatal Saturday shooting of a Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest.

The shooting, which happened Saturday afternoon in the Argentine neighborhood of KCK, killed 34-year-old Elijah Ming, a nearly nine-year veteran of the sheriff’s office.

Shawn Harris, 38, was arrested Sunday morning and charged with killing a law enforcement officer, moments after he was released from an area hospital where he was treated with non-life threatening injuries from the shootout.

He was booked into the Johnson County jail.

The KCK shooting

Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Karl Oakman said Saturday that the deputy later identified as Ming was in the 2600 block of S. 30th Street in KCK with other law enforcement officers to provide safety while a woman moved out of a house.

Then Harris confronted Ming and they exchanged gunfire, injuring Ming, according to Oakman.

Officers from both KCKPD and the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office also exchanged gunfire with the suspect, Oakman said, and Harris barricaded himself inside the home. He eventually came out around 5 p.m. after a negotiation, and was taken to the hospital with injuries.

Formal charges are pending, and the KBI is still investigating the shooting.

Ming was former baseball player, KCK grad

Ming played baseball while he was in high school at F.L. Schlagle in KCK and through college at Fort Scott Community College where he had a 4.50 ERA and helped his team to a 42-18 record. He then continued playing at Wayne State College, according to his on the Wayne State College website..

Elijah Ming’s death is the second recent tragedy in the family. His mother, Sonji Ming, died just less than two weeks before, according to a Facebook post from her husband on July 15.

“He loved his family so much,” a family friend said in a statement on Sunday.

“My life will forever be changed because of Elijah Ming and his love for others.”

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