NEWTON ? A Newton man suspected of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy and critically injuring another officer was taken into custody Saturday morning after a standoff.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesman Kyle Smith said Gregory Moore, 46, is suspected of shooting the law enforcement officers when they barged into his house after hearing a woman being struck.

Harvey County sheriff’s deputy Kurt Ford, 38, was killed, and Hesston police Detective Chris Eilert, 33, was shot four times but survived.

Smith said Moore was being held in an undisclosed jail outside of Newton. He said Moore hasn’t yet been charged with a crime and that charges could come as soon as Monday.

The officers went to the Moore’s home after a 14-year-old girl called police about 12:50 a.m. Saturday to say her mother was being beaten and that the suspect had a gun.

About 3 a.m., law enforcement got in contact with Moore and the unidentified woman by telephone, and Moore agreed to talk to Ford and Eilert at the door.

During the conversation, authorities said, the woman indicated she wanted to leave. The door slammed shut, authorities said, and the officers heard her being hit.

The two officers rushed into the house and were met by gunfire. The hostage — whom authorities described only as living at the residence in a romantic relationship with the suspect — broke free from Moore and was able to escape unharmed.

Other law enforcement officers were able to retrieve the two officers. Eilert, who had been with the Hesston Police Department for five years, was sent to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, where he was in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery, Smith said.

Smith said Moore, who was not hurt, remained barricaded in the house for another five hours before surrendering about 8:30 a.m.

Smith said officers found a handgun and shotgun in the two-story home in a well-kept, middle -class neighborhood. The suspect was well known to local law enforcement officials, who had been called out to the house several times in the past.

Authorities enter the house where Harvey County Sheriff's Deputy Kurt Ford, 38, was shot and killed and Hesston Police Detective Chris Eilert, 33, was shot and wounded Saturday in Newton. The officers went to the home after a 14-year-old girl called police to say her mother was being beaten by a man who lived with them and that the suspect had a gun. Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesman Kyle Smith said Gregory Moore, 46, is suspected of shooting the officers.

Those who knew Ford described him as “just a super guy; a good cop.”

“He was always there to help,” said Harvey County Commissioner Ron Krehbiel, a former sheriff’s deputy.

Said Smith: “He was always the first one through the door. He was that kind of guy.”

Ford had just returned to the Harvey County Sheriff’s Department in January. He had worked at the Harvey County Jail in 1988, and after that he went to Hesston where he worked for the police department and served as chief. He also worked at the sheriff’s office in Colorado Springs.

Earlier this year, Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels, 42, was shot near Virgil in northeast Greenwood County as he was serving a search warrant.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement Saturday she was saddened by the loss of another law enforcement officer.

“This is a solemn reminder of the sacrifice our law enforcement officers make each day as they protect the people of Kansas,” she said. “Words cannot express the deep loss we feel for this brave public servant and his family.”

Meanwhile, friends and acquaintances of Moore were also trying to make sense of the tragedy as news of the shootings spread throughout the community.

Among Moore’s closest friends is Bill Shinkle, who went to the residence early this morning to try to convince Moore to come out peacefully. He said police did not allow him talk to him.

Moore was living on worker’s compensation after an injury at the farm implement dealership where he had worked in Newton, he said. Moore had been struggling as a single father of two girls, ages 18 and 16, since his wife died five years ago.

“We need to learn to pray for all the families involved in this situation,” he said.