Kansas deputies killed by inmate were both parents

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Two Kansas deputy sheriffs who were fatally shot by an inmate while transporting him between the courthouse and jail were both parents, authorities said Saturday.

The inmate, whose name hasn’t been released, shot Wyandotte County deputy sheriffs Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer on Friday in a gated area behind the county courthouse. He might have King Rohrer

used one of the deputies’ guns to shoot them during a struggle after he got out of the van, authorities said.

The inmate was also shot and underwent surgery Friday. Terry Zeigler, the police chief of Kansas City, Kansas, said at a news conference Saturday that as far as he knew, the man was in stable condition.

Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting. He had been with the force for seven years and leaves behind two young children, Wyandotte County sheriff’s Maj. Kelli Bailiff said.

King, 44, died early Saturday at a hospital. She had been with the sheriff’s office for 13 years and had three children, including a young one.

“She always had a smile on her face. Always. Just a sweetheart,” Keeley Hanson, a bartender who frequently chatted with King and her colleagues at Chicago’s, one of their regular hangouts, told KSHB.

Zeigler said the authorities were withholding the inmate’s name until he has been formally charged, which is expected to happen next week.

The officials declined to go into more specifics about how the shooting happened, although Bailiff said the deputies had “followed proper procedure.”

The deputies were the only law enforcement officials transporting inmates Friday, police said. It was unclear how many inmates were being transported.

A candlelight vigil for the deputies will be held at 8 p.m. Sunday in front of City Hall.