Police received calls of gunshots being fired on the corner of 22nd Street and Union last night a little after 5 p.m.
Officer Bradley Arn was among the first to arrive to subdue the shooter. As soon as the shooter saw the police vehicles drive up, he riddled Officer Arn’s car with at least seven bullets, one of them striking Arn in the head which instantly killed him, police said.
Another responding officer, whose name will not be released until the investigation is over, shot the gunman with a fatal shot to the head, according to the police report.
The shooters identity is still not clear but police are currently using finger print technology to try to identify the man.
The unidentified shooter was described by police and witnesses as an average size man with a Mohawk wearing camouflage and having a shotgun strapped to his back and a knife on his belt while shooting an assault rifle. The shooter first was seen firing at anything in front of his gun at 22nd and Frederick before heading south towards the Calvary Baptist Church, according to police.
Officer Connors later stated that this was the first police officer shot in the line of duty since 1944 and that it is something the “St. Joseph officers are not and cannot get used to.” (see sidebar)
George McFeat, a resident of St. Joseph, witnessed the police officer’s car shot with multiple assault rifle rounds. McFeat knew Arn was killed when he saw the officer plop over after being shot. Officer Arn’s vehicle proceeded to lynch forward and accelerate over a curb and eventually strike a boat in a parking lot, according to McFeat. (see sidebar)
Roger Liberty, watching this devastation from behind his house, charged back into his home to grab his deer rifle to try and end the mad man’s killing rampage.
Before Liberty could take a shot, other police officers returned fire and struck the shooter in the head which instantly killed him, according to Liberty.
“Shortly before I could pull the trigger, the gunman was shot and his head was snapped back and blood covered the bushes and ground,” Liberty described.
George McFeat was with his family driving in his van when he witnessed the killing of the officer and then was shot at himself. He received a small wound to the head from either the broken glass of his shot out window or bullet fragment from the assault rifle, police said.
Officer Connors said that they are using fingerprints to identify the shooter and are conducting an ongoing investigation. The department is also conducting an internal review with the officer who fired the fatal shot.
Sidebar
Officer Bradley Arn was only 28 years old when he was killed and had only been on the police officer for 6 years.
Officer Bradley Arn’s viewing will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday at the Stover Funeral Home on Main Street. The viewings are open to all residents of the community and the funeral is restricted to family only.
This was the first mass shooting in St. Joseph’s history. Officer Arn was the first officer shot in the line of duty since 1944. There hasn’t been a death in the St. Joseph’s police force since 1991 when an officer was struck by car.
Officers of St. Joseph Police Department are devastated and saddened by the death of their fellow officer. St. Joseph officers are not used to and will never be used to a death of a colleague.
Below is a picture of Officer Bradley Arn.
This is a video of another recent death of a St. Joseph Police Officer--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsorSNrHOHU
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