LEAVENWORTH COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday night in Basehor, Kansas.
Just before 9p.m., deputies from the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 16900 block of Dempsey Road where a resident reported being threatened, according to a media release from the KBI. The reporting party provided a description of the suspect’s vehicle, which was a white Honda SUV.
Preliminary information indicates deputies located the Honda nearby, and attempted to stop the SUV, when the driver fled. While the Honda traveled eastbound in the 17000 block of Dempsey Road, gunshots were fired from the SUV toward the pursuing patrol vehicle. Near N. 147th and Parallel Road, in Basehor, gunshots were again fired from the Honda, and the responding deputy crashed his patrol vehicle.
The pursuit continued to the area of N. 156th and Parallel Road, where the Honda collided with a passenger car. As a deputy pulled behind the Honda, a male subject, later identified as Andrew M. Amundsen, 33, of Leavenworth, exited the passenger side, and fired several rounds. The deputy returned fire. The driver of the vehicle, Mariah Huggins, 29, of Kansas City, Kansas, was taken into custody at the crash site.
Amundsen fled on foot. In an attempt to hide, he broke a basement window of an area home, entered the residence, but then exited and continued to flee. Sheriff's deputies located him hiding in a truck bed in the area of N. 157th and Cedar Street and took him into custody. Amundsen was uninjured, and later booked into the Leavenworth County Jail on an outstanding arrest warrant.
The deputy involved in the wreck was transported to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries and then released. No other deputies or civilians were hurt during this incident. As a precaution, Huggins was examined by hospital personnel, and then booked into the Leavenworth County Jail on a pre-existing warrant.
Additional charges, related to this incident, are expected for Amundsen and Huggins.
This independent investigation aims to discover all events leading up to the officer-involved shooting. In police use of force cases, the KBI releases details to the public as soon as possible. This information is preliminary in nature, and is based on evidence collected and early statements of the parties involved, witnesses, medical personnel and others. It does not represent final or thorough findings which take several weeks to complete.
When this investigation concludes case findings will be presented to the Leavenworth County Attorney for determination of charges. The investigation is ongoing.