photo by: Mackenzie Clark

Law enforcement vehicles and police tape surround the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 19th and Massachusetts streets on Monday, June 15, 2020. The suspect had been driving the red sedan seen here behind the fire hydrant.

Story updated at 7:20 p.m. Monday:

Law enforcement officers shot and killed a suspect following a car chase that ended in Lawrence around 3:30 p.m. Monday.

The suspect, a white man, was sought by U.S. Marshals, Kansas Highway Patrol Technical Trooper Don Hughes said at the scene. KHP officers located the suspect in Jefferson County and followed him into Lawrence, where KHP officers backed off and slowed down.

Once in town, officers with other agencies — including the Lawrence Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and KUPD — got involved and tried to end the pursuit at various points, but it wasn’t safe, Hughes said.

At 19th and Massachusetts streets, troopers were able to get into position to use a tactical vehicle intervention, causing the vehicle to spin and stop. Hughes said an officer at the scene told him that when the man got out of his car, he was wielding a gun toward officers.

“We ended up exchanging gunfire with that individual and he was killed,” Hughes said.

It was unclear Monday afternoon whether the man had fired shots at officers before officers shot and killed him. A passenger in the car, described over emergency radio traffic as a white woman, was taken into custody, Hughes said. She was not injured.

Witnesses who were less than a block from the intersection at the time said they heard numerous gunshots, estimating 10 to 15 shots. Hughes said two officers with KHP and one with the University of Kansas Office of Public Safety fired at the suspect.

Emergency radio traffic monitored by the Journal-World indicated that the car and its occupants were possibly being chased in connection with a homicide; however, Hughes was unable to confirm the reason U.S. Marshals were seeking the suspect.

The officers involved in the shooting will be put on administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation, Hughes said. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the shooting.

No officers were injured in the incident, Hughes said.

The chase had been on Highway 24 before entering the town through North Lawrence, officials said. The chase entered Lawrence around 3:25 p.m. Monday, according to radio traffic, and it went through the downtown area before heading down Massachusetts Street toward 19th Street. Pursuing law enforcement units reported that the suspect vehicle, a red car, was driving at high speeds into oncoming traffic.

Numerous police vehicles blocked off a wide area around the scene, where the suspect’s car was stopped just west of the intersection, following the incident. Massachusetts Street was closed from 19th Street to about 20th Street, and 19th Street was closed from Kentucky Street to Rhode Island Street, Lawrence police said on social media.

Hughes told media that investigators would keep the area closed for at least the next several hours in order to thoroughly investigate the incident.

KHP, KUPD address media after officer-involved shooting in Lawrence, KS

Kansas Highway Patrol Technical Trooper Don Hughes and University of Kansas Police Deputy Chief James Anguiano address media after an officer-involved shooti…

photo by: Evan Washechek/Contributed Photo

Law enforcement surrounds a red car, obscured at center, that was involved in a car chase that ended with gunshots near 19th and Massachusetts streets in Lawrence, Monday June 15, 2020.

photo by: Evan Washechek/Contributed Photo

Police gather after a car chase ended in gunshots near the intersection of 19th and Massachusetts streets, Monday, June 15, 2020.