A western Kansas police officer was fatally shot responding to a domestic violence call

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HAYS, Kan. (AP) — A western Kansas police officer was fatally shot while responding to a domestic violence call at the home of a suspect who appeared to have later killed himself, authorities said.

Hays Police Sgt. Scott Heimann died of his injuries early Sunday after being transported by air to a hospital, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said. Heimann, 32, joined the police in 2016.

He is the fourth Kansas law enforcement officer to die on duty in a little more than three months.

Police received a call just before midnight Saturday about a woman who fled from the suspect's home in Hays, a town of about 21,000 people about 200 miles (322 kilometers) west of Topeka on Interstate 70, according to the KBI, which is investigating the officer's shooting. The woman reported that — as she tried to leave — the suspect drove his truck into her vehicle.

Heimann and a Kansas Highway patrol trooper were setting up a police perimeter near the backyard of the suspect's home at about 2 a.m. Sunday when a single shot fired from inside hit Heimann, authorities said. The suspect was barricaded inside at the time.

Authorities said the police, the patrol and the KBI negotiated with the suspect but also used gas, projectiles for breaking windows and a surveillance drone during the standoff. Officers entered the house about 6:15 a.m. and found the suspect dead. They did not fire their weapons, the KBI said.

“We are tragically reminded that Police Officers serve and protect their communities putting the lives of others above their own,” Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said in a statement.

The other officers who died on duty in Kansas this year were Phillips County Undersheriff Brandon Gaede on June 27; Wyandotte County Deputy Sheriff Elijah Ming on July 26, and Kansas City Police Officer Hunter Simoncic on Aug. 26.