photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World photo

Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart, right, and City Manager Craig Owens provide an update on a fatal shooting that occurred inside Lawrence City Hall on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.

Updated at 10:37 p.m. Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

A City of Lawrence employee fatally shot an intruder at Lawrence City Hall Monday morning, the Lawrence Police Department has confirmed.

City Manager Craig Owens and Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart said at a 10:45 a.m. news conference that an intruder, who broke into the building, was shot and killed by an armed city employee around 8 a.m. inside City Hall, 6 East Sixth St. The intruder was a 28-year-old man from Minnesota, Lockhart said, and he was not known to local police. A motive for why he entered City Hall, which opens to the public at 8 a.m., was not clear.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens, left, and Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart walk out of City Hall to brief the media on a fatal shooting at City Hall on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.

The intruder had forced his way into the building, then broke through a door on the fourth floor, a secure area that is not open to the public, officials said. That intrusion alerted employees to the man’s presence. Lockhart said that a number of surveillance cameras in the building captured much of the incident, but he said the footage would not be released pending the investigation. Police have not said whether the man was armed.

City employees attempted to remove the man and a “fight” began, Lockhart said. The man was then fatally shot. Owens confirmed that no city employees were seriously injured, and he expressed his gratitude for the first responders who came after the “disturbing incident.”

City employees were sent home for the day, and City Hall remained closed. The city employee who shot the intruder has not been publicly identified but has been placed on administrative leave per protocol pending the investigation. Lockhart said the employee was doing “as well as can be expected” under the circumstances.

The altercation and shooting occurred on the fourth floor of City Hall, which is where offices for the city manager and other top-ranking city officials are located. Lockhart said it wasn’t clear whether the intruder would have known that.

“We are not aware of the ‘why,'” Lockhart said. “That’s part of our investigation, to try and backtrack to when the person arrived here, why they were, and what was going on.”

Lockhart said investigators were working on getting statements and reviewing all the evidence, including whether the intruder had a gun.

Following the news conference, officials with the city confirmed to the Journal-World that the employee who shot the intruder was not a police officer, but was a city employee who was “authorized” to carry a firearm. A later press release from the city further said the employee was “authorized and trained to carry a firearm within the building.” There were two city employees in City Hall at that time who were authorized to carry firearms, the official said. Neither the official nor the press release provided information on whether the employees were security guards or held non-security-related roles for the city.

Late Monday night, Lawrence police spokeswoman Laura McCabe, in response to a question from the Journal-World, said that the department would not be releasing the employee’s job title.

“We are choosing, for now, not to give the specific title of the employee,” McCabe wrote in an email. “There are only a few of them, so it could be narrowed down easily. Knowing the emotional stress this type of event causes, we would like to give the employee some breathing room.”

The Lawrence Police Department will lead the investigation into the incident in cooperation with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

The police department and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical both responded to the incident. A Journal-World reporter on scene saw multiple members of the LPD’s forensics team leaving City Hall with bags of items.

Although city officials initially said that City Hall would reopen after Monday, the city’s social media pages later said that City Hall would remain closed Tuesday and Wednesday as well. In addition to housing a host of city offices, City Hall also is home to the Municipal Court, which was scheduled to be in session Monday morning. Many members of the public on Monday morning were approaching City Hall for court proceedings, but were turned away by an LPD officer who was stationed at City Hall’s main entrance.

Municipal Court, which takes place in the lobby of City Hall, will also be closed until Thursday as officials discuss security concerns related to the building.

“We’ve got to take some time to be able to go through and make sure we’ve got adequate security, and we’ve got to make sure that we have everything ready for people to be welcomed back in,” Lockhart said.

The city said on social media that all City Hall-based services will be unavailable while City Hall is closed, including Municipal Court and utility billing.

The City Commission was scheduled to have its regular meeting Tuesday evening at City Hall. Cori Wallace, a spokesperson for the city, told the Journal-World Monday afternoon that the City Commission meeting would be held at City Hall on Tuesday evening, and would be fully open to the public, per usual procedures.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Lawrence police officers identified by their uniforms as members of the forensics team are seen exiting Lawrence City Hall with bags on Jan. 5, 2026.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart and another member of the LPD enter Lawrence City Hall on the morning of Jan. 5, 2026.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

Lawrence City Hall and a multitude of law enforcement vehicles are pictured on Jan. 5, 2026.