Suspect shot by law enforcement in Lawrence Monday was wanted in connection with Omaha homicide

photo by: Omaha Crime Stoppers/Contributed Photo; Mackenzie Clark/Journal-World Photo
Pictured at left is Nicholas Hirsh, 31, of Nebraska. At right, 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, Hirsh, had been driving the red sedan seen here behind the fire hydrant.
Story updated at 12:25 p.m. Tuesday
A man fatally shot by law enforcement Monday afternoon in Lawrence has been identified as Nicholas Ryan Hirsh, 31, a homicide suspect from Nebraska, according to Omaha, Neb., police.
Omaha police officers had responded to a shooting call just after noon Thursday, June 11, and found a male victim dead inside an apartment, according to a news release from OPD. The victim was identified as 41-year-old John Miles. The department issued a warrant for Hirsh on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Hirsh was driving a red four-door sedan in Jefferson County when Kansas Highway Patrol troopers — alerted to the warrant earlier in the day — spotted him, Technical Trooper Don Hughes said Monday afternoon.
They pursued him into Lawrence, where other local law enforcement agencies became involved in trying to stop him. Eventually, troopers were able to intervene and stop Hirsh’s vehicle at the intersection of 19th and Massachusetts streets, Hughes said.
Hirsh had come out of the vehicle wielding a gun at officers, Hughes said. Two officers with KHP and one with the University of Kansas Office of Public Safety fired shots at Hirsh, Hughes said. It was not immediately clear whether Hirsh had fired at law enforcement.
Officer Joseph Nickerson, a spokesman for the Omaha Police Department, confirmed Hirsh’s identity via email Tuesday morning. His next of kin had been notified, Nickerson said.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the officer-involved shooting. Deputy Claire Canaan, a public information officer for the agency, said early Tuesday that she did not yet have any new information to release.
The Journal-World was not immediately able to confirm the identity of the female passenger who was taken into custody after the incident. The woman was not injured, multiple law enforcement spokespeople have said.
Craig Beam, chief deputy for the Kansas division of the U.S. Marshals Service, told the Associated Press it appeared that Hirsh had been in Kansas since Friday, when a car was stolen from Clay Center. He said the Marshals Service was helping to look for the vehicle when the Kansas Highway Patrol spotted it near Perry Lake. Beam said it was possible that the suspect had been camping there.
“Obviously he knew he was wanted,” Beam said. “He got spooked and took off.″
According to an FBI news release from 2010, Hirsh, then 21, of Omaha, Neb., was convicted of robbing the U.S. Bank in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Dec. 15, 2009. Using a note but no weapon, he stole $444, the release states. He was sentenced to 77 months in prison.
An undated wanted poster from the U.S. Marshals alleges that Hirsh had violated his federal probation for an original charge of bank robbery and that he was known to abuse drugs and assault law enforcement.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, Hughes said Monday.
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…
Contact Mackenzie Clark
Have a story idea, news or information to share? Contact public safety reporter Mackenzie Clark:
Related coverage
• June 15, 2020: Police shoot, kill man wanted by U.S. Marshals after chase into Lawrence