Two cops who responded to a domestic violence report in Wichita, Kansas, were shot and wounded Saturday after the 24-year-old Malik Rogers resisted and fired several shots at the police before reportedly being killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Capt. Jason Stephens identified the suspect. The incident began at about 10:40 pm on Christmas Eve when the officers were dispatched to a restaurant located in the 4800 block of South Washington. A woman reported that Rogers, her boyfriend, physically battered her.
The Wichita Police Department has released more information, stating that officers went to Rogers' apartment to arrest him. According to the police, Rogers resisted and struggled with the officers. Rogers barricaded himself in a bathroom. When officers forced open the door, Rogers was said to have pointed a gun and fired several shots.
Stephens said the officers talked with Rogers for 10 to 15 minutes, attempting to get him to submit to an arrest. However, the officers' attempt failed "due to a size disparity." Rogers was said to be much larger than both of the officers.
One officer was shot in the leg, while the other was shot in the arm. Both were being treated at a hospital. Police Chief Gordon Ramsay described the incident as serious but not life-threatening. The two officers have been with the department for less than a year. They are expected to recover fully.
A SWAT team and crisis negotiators also attempted to reach Rogers for more than an hour; however, he did not surrender. Stephens said that they believed they heard a gunshot at one point. They continued to evacuate other residents before going into the apartment. The suspect was later found dead of what police called a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Rogers reportedly went to the woman's home uninvited. He attempted to enter through a window "but then gained entrance into the house by being let in essentially by a 3-year-old child who was inside the house."
"Once inside, he confronted her and pointed a handgun at her, essentially assaulting her with that gun," Stephens said. According to the woman, she was also punched in the face by Rogers. Another separate incident came to light as the woman told officers about the Thursday occurrence in which Rogers "grabbed her by the neck and physically assaulted her."
Rogers was on parole from a 2017 attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault incident.
