Kansas City, Kansas, detective fatally shot; man in custody

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Kansas City, Kansas, police detective helping respond to a report of a suspicious person near a racetrack was shot fatally Monday, and a parolee sought for questioning in that and an ensuing string of reported carjackings was wounded after a shootout with police in neighboring Missouri.

The detective was shot at least twice about 12:30 p.m. near the Kansas Speedway, underwent surgery at a hospital and later died, his department said in a statement.

His name was not released but a police spokesman, Patrick McCallop, called him "a seasoned officer."

Police said the gunman, after wounding the detective, fled in the officer's unmarked car, then hijacked a vehicle with two children inside before abandoning it in nearby Basehor, Kansas, leaving the children unharmed.

Police appealed for help in trying to find Curtis Ayers, 28, for questioning in the shooting. That Tonganoxie, Kansas, man was taken into custody in Kansas City, Missouri, when he crashed the car he was driving while being pursued by officers, then was shot by police after trying to carjack a woman's vehicle.

The woman was wounded and taken to a hospital, a police spokeswoman said without specifying her medical condition. Ayers was in stable condition.

"This individual was very dangerous. We are so happy that this individual is in custody," Kansas City, Missouri, police spokeswoman Kari Thompson told reporters later. "We are so glad this situation has come to an end."

Ayers has had longstanding trouble with the law, having served time in Kansas prison in recent years for convictions involving child abandonment, fleeing or trying to elude law enforcers, and interference with a law enforcement officer, according to Associated Press research.

Ayers previously had been charged in North Carolina with offenses ranging from misdemeanor theft to possession of stolen goods and burglarizing vehicles.