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Posted by: kwflatbed

She was attempting to stop a holdup at the racetrack. Two suspects are arrested after chase.

By JAMES HART and LYNN FRANEY

The Kansas City Star



CHRIS OBERHOLTZ | The Kansas City Star
Police investigated a shooting at the Kansas Speedway Sunday night that left an off-duty Kansas City, Kan., police officer in critical condition.

An off-duty Kansas City, Kan., police officer was shot several times Sunday as she tried to stop robbers from holding up a vendors’ deposit area at Kansas Speedway.
Police arrested two suspects after a short car chase into a neighborhood north of the racetrack, and they were investigating witnesses’ reports of a third robber. Police would not say what, if anything, the robbers got from the track.
The officer, a 25-year veteran who was working at the speedway in her police uniform, was flown to a hospital, where she was later listed in critical condition.
No other employees were hurt, speedway spokesman Stann Tate said.
The robbery came after the end of a third day of NASCAR racing at the track.
About 8 p.m., when most of the crowd had left the speedway, people who were still inside heard several shots.
Kansas City Star reporter Jim Pedley was leaving the building when he heard several pops coming from the concourse area about 8 p.m.
“It sounded like a string of fireworks,” Pedley said. The shots came quickly and were of different tones, as if multiple weapons were firing.
The shots came from a small building under the American flag that speedway vendors call “the bank,” said a vendor who did not want to give her name for fear that she would lose her job.
It sounded “like emptying out a gun,” the vendor said.
Police did not say whether the officer was wearing a protective vest, or whether she was able to shoot back at the robbers.
“It’s still in the very beginning stages of the investigation,” said Kansas City, Kan., Police Capt. James Brown.
Soon after the shooting, Mark Regenos and Eric Weisdorfer, NASCAR fans from Nebraska, saw a small, dark sport utility vehicle and a sedan flee north away from the speedway, speeding about 65 mph through the parking lot, they said. Two police or security vehicles chased them through a red light, their emergency lights flashing.
The pursuit turned into a neighborhood, where police caught two suspects across Parallel Parkway near North 109th Street.
Police cars, a ladder truck and an ambulance swarmed toward the concourse, witnesses said, and a helicopter landed to fly away the injured officer.
Police ordered a handful of reporters and a speedway worker who were still in the press box to stay in the room. Some vendors had to stay in the concourse as late as 11 p.m. until police could interview anyone who might have seen the robbery attempt.
Vendors deposit their money from NASCAR merchandise, food and drinks at the end of the day in the small building. They knock to get in, show their identification to a guard who opens the door, and then give their cash to one of several tellers in the room. There aren’t many people around when vendors make their deposits, but it can still be chaotic as people move in and out of the small building, the vendor said.
Outside the track, fans talked about the shooting around their RVs. Weisdorfer said the attack didn’t make him feel less safe at the speedway.
“Thugs are thugs, and they’re everywhere,” Weisdorfer said.

@ Go to Kansas City.com for updates on this story.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Two Kan. men faces murder charges in off-duty officer shooting

The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan.- Two men face attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting a police detective who was providing security at the Kansas Speedway.
Frederick Douglas and Nolden Garner were charged today with attempted capital murder in the attack on Police Detective Susan Brown on Sunday. Brown is a 25-year veteran who was working security at the track for a NASCAR race.
Authorities say the two men shot Brown several times and took her handgun.
Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman also charged the men with aggravated battery, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated robbery
Authorities say Douglas and Garner have long criminal histories.


Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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