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Police Officer Fatally Shot In Kansas City, Kansas

A Kansas City, Kansas, police officer has been fatally shot in the line of duty.

Capt. Robert David Melton was shot Tuesday afternoon while responding to a call about a drive-by shooting. Police say Melton identified the car suspected in the shooting and tried to intercept the vehicle.

That's when several suspects bolted from the vehicle and began firing shots at the officer. Melton was hit multiple times and later died at the University of Kansas Hospital. Police say several suspects were taken into custody.

"We just want to ask for the thoughts and prayers for Captain Melton's family and for our entire police department right now and for our community," said Mark Holland, mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. "There's a lot of pain and brokenness in our community and in our nation right now, and we just want to ask everyone to be prayerful and thoughtful right now."

This fatal shooting comes just two months after a fatal shooting involving another KCK police officer. Detective Brad Lancaster was shot and killed May 9 near the Kansas Speedway.

J. Schafer is the News Director of Kansas Public Radio at the Univeristy of Kansas. He’s also the Managing Editor of the Kansas Public Radio Network, which provides news and information to other public radio stations in Kansas and Missouri. Before joining KPR in 1995, Schafer spent 10 years as a commercial radio and TV newsman. During his career, he's filed stories for nearly every major radio news network in the nation including ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, UPI, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NPR and the BBC. This seems to impress no one. At KPR, he produces feature stories, interviews and newscast items and edits the work of others. In the fall of 2000, he performed contract work for the U.S. State Department, traveling to central Asia to teach broadcast journalism at newly independent radio stations in the former Soviet Union. One of his passions is Kansas; learning about and promoting the state’s rich heritage, people and accomplishments. Schafer gives presentations about Kansas to various organizations around the state to remind residents about our awesome history and incredible people. A native of Great Bend, he studied journalism and mass communications at Barton County Community College and at the University of Kansas. He was also an exchange student to Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. The “J.” in J. Schafer stands for Jeremy, but he doesn’t really care for that name. He also enjoys the pretentiousness of using just a single initial for a first name!