Tonganoxie — An Overland Park man who was injured early Thursday when a Tonganoxie police officer shot at him has been released from the hospital and taken into custody by Leavenworth County officials.

Jeff Roberts, 33, was arrested Friday on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, domestic battery, criminal damage to property and criminal use of weapons, according to Undersheriff Ron Cranor. Bond is set at $5,750.

Roberts’ mother says her son was taken to Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., after he fought with her and then had a confrontation with police at his parents’ home in southern Tonganoxie.

Apparently Roberts, who is on medication to treat symptoms of depression, had an argument with his mother about 1 a.m. Thursday and decided he wanted to drive to his Overland Park home. He can’t drive legally, his mother said, because his license was suspended after a DUI arrest in the past year.

Roberts took his car keys from his mother and grabbed an unloaded shotgun from a closet before he went outside. He had shoved his mother before he left the house.

Once outside, Roberts broke windows and beat on the home’s siding with the butt of the gun, his mother said. She called 911.

Asked whether Roberts had pointed the shotgun at officers, Police Chief Jeff Brandau said: “They shot him because they felt threatened.”

Officers did not know Roberts’ gun was unloaded.

The officer fired at Roberts and the bullet struck the shotgun, not Roberts, the chief said.

“It hit the gun, is what the bullet hit, and bullet fragment and parts of it went up into his chest,” Brandau said. “He was lucky.”

Roberts’ mother has said she has no animosity toward police.

jimroberts 2 years, 2 months ago

$5750 bond is a slap in the face to his parents as well as the police department.

Bladerunner 2 years, 2 months ago

Agreed! That is pathetic! When will the courts start protecting us?

smitty 2 years, 2 months ago

From what? The courts are already stacked as is well documented.

Q...When will the courts start protecting the family of LE from abuse? A..When LE stops practicing the big blue secret.

There's more but you get the point.

stevebrighton 2 years, 2 months ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

If you bothered to read, you might be capable(not sure,might) of understanding there is a difference between the management colluding to cover up the illegal actions of the LPD vs bad street officers. Most of the street officers I have met have moved on to another community because of the LPD's poor management. High attrition rate has a reason and it isn't me. BTW, you left out Bremby as asst mgr and Amyx ,along with the rest of the commission who collude to protect the city from law suits and out of court settlements for the LPD's actions by handling DOJ/OIG investigations as personnel issues.

JW, how about a story on the out of court settlements for the city of Lawrence's liability issues?

pace 2 years, 2 months ago

The mother sounds like she was trying to do the best for her son and the community. I commend her for her statement "she has no animosity toward police. ". It is easy to blame others or to over protect a family member. It sounds like it could of gone much worse. I am glad no one died.

TJ_in_Lawrence 2 years, 2 months ago

Wow, around these parts you usually call police when your kid is acting like this and then when they shoot him. You scream racism or profiling and try and blame the police. Of course a chorus of like minded people jump in and join your rant about police discrimination and racism and there you have it. All responsibility for the problem is blamed on the police instead of your troubled kid or his rearing. I think I'll move to tongie. It seems like the folks up there are a little more down to earth.

grammaddy 2 years, 2 months ago

somebodynew 2 years, 2 months ago

Kris_H 2 years, 2 months ago

He was lucky. It doesn't matter about the "why" once you point a weapon at a police officer. To the family who it sounds like has been through a lot, I'm sorry for your pain and hope your son gets some effective help with his problems.

thank you for removing, LPD, somneonenew's inciteful post.

Well mine was only in response to the first "inciteful post". But, that is OK. Wasn't going to post anything till I read the first one so they should both be gone and they all. All is right with the world.

moooommmmy..gramaddy said Sevier first....waaa

TheSychophant 2 years, 2 months ago

Moral of the story: Don't call the police when having problems with a mentally ill child, as they may get shot. This guy was a quite lucky he didn't end up like Greg Sevier.

Thank you.

vertigo 2 years, 2 months ago

Just wanted to point out this idiotic comment from when this story broke:

justforfun (anonymous) says… Shoot first, ask questions later!! Good work!!!

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/feb/24/tonganoxie-police-shoot-armed-man-leavenworth-coun/#c1537510

Yeah, more like make a stupid comment first, get the facts later!!

That a class struggle exists is self evident. The more important question is: what are we going to do about it?

monkfellow 2 years, 2 months ago

A "class struggle"? Over WHAT?? By all accounts, the guy threatened the police, and they reacted. I don't think they checked the guy's tax return before taking action. Geez..lefties. get over your hangups about money. Now, if you want to have mental health professionals riding around in squad cars 24/7/365, YOU find a way to pay for that in this economy. The police ARE NOT mental health experts, nor are they local versions of Kreskin.They don't know whether a weapon is loaded or not.They don't know if someone will toss a knife, or not. Maybe you'd rather have more officers killed or injured in the line of duty to even the score for you. Lord knows there are enough being killed already this year around the country in your great "class struggle". Geez.

Posted on wrong story. Happens sometimes when I open multiple windows. Sorry.

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Archive for Saturday, February 26, 2011

Man released from hospital after police shooting incident, taken into custody