The police officers and state troopers involved in the fatal shooting of Salina man were justified in their actions and won’t be charged, prosecutors said.
Salina police officers went to the home of Larry Wray Jr., 44, on July 24 to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. While doing so, an officer spotted Jesse Wray, 25, inside the detached garage, pointing a gun at the officer, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday. Jesse Wray also had a warrant, and the officers retreated, the KBI said.
Other officers and troopers arrived. Jesse Wray refused orders to come out. After a while, they saw smoke and flames coming from the garage and the door opened. A female came out with her hands up. Jesse Wray ran out behind her and crouched behind a pickup truck in what appeared to be a shooting stance, extending his hands toward officers, the statement said. Two officers fired nine rounds but didn’t hit him.
Jesse Wray then ran to the side of the garage where he encountered an officer and a trooper. They fired four shots, fatally wounding him. Investigators recovered a black BB gun that was designed to look like a revolver inside the damaged garage and determined the fire was intentionally set.
Saline County Jeffrey Abel said in a letter to the KBI on Nov. 4 that while video makes it clear Wray didn’t have a gun in his hand when he exited the garage, his gestures and posture “would lead any reasonable person to believe that a gun was being raised and pointed at officers.”
He added that nobody would be charged ”because any reasonable officer would believe that the use of deadly force was justified.”
A funeral home obituary indicated that Jesse Wray was the son of Larry Wray.
