KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thomas Eugene Tolbert, the man suspected of shooting a Lee’s Summit police officer in Missouri, has been found and arrested in Kansas, prompting the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to cancel its Blue Alert.
The alert was issued while law enforcement was searching for Tolbert, who allegedly shot a Lee’s Summit officer while police were investigating a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex Sunday night.
The KBI canceled the alert after Tolbert, 27, was found and arrested in Ellis, Kansas, early Tuesday morning.
According to KBI, law enforcement received information Tuesday indicating that Tolbert might be inside a hotel in Ellis on Washington Street.
Around 4:50 a.m., KBI agents, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and Hays Police Department officers arrived at the hotel and safely took Tolbert into custody, per KBI.
Tolbert was arrested on a Missouri warrant for first-degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest or detention by fleeing and second-degree domestic assault. The charges were filed Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court in connection with the shooting.
Tolbert has been booked into the Ellis County jail, according to the KBI.
There will be a news conference at the Lee’s Summit Police Department on Tuesday morning with information on the suspect and the officer’s condition.
This is a developing story.