Riley County Police Department officers will not face criminal charges for their involvement in the fatal shooting of a Manhattan man.
The announcement was made Friday by Barry Wilkerson, Riley County attorney, who says he believes the officers were justified in their actions.
Jarred Kemp, 41, was shot on Oct. 2 by an officer after reportedly pointing a gun at his father’s head. Kemp’s father had put himself between Kemp and the officers and attempted to get Kemp to give up the gun. Instead of giving up the firearm, Kemp proceeded to beat his father and hit him with the butt of the gun.
While officers attempted for several hours to deescalate the situation and avoid confrontation, they believed Kemp’s father was in “imminent danger,” leading to Kemp being shot.
“Six other witnesses generally describe the same feeling,” Wilkerson said. “One witness thought it was already too late. That even if the officer’s bullet were to strike Mr. Kemp, he wouldn’t be able to prevent Mr. Kemp from pulling the trigger and killing his father.”
Officers on scene believed the situation to be a mental-health crisis.
Kemp was a 21-year Army veteran not far from retirement who had seen several years of combat and allegedly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to Wilkerson, Kemp had made several suicidal comments prior to threatening his father and had even made comments about a “suicide by cop.”
“A former combat soldier, a friend of (Kemp’s), was on the phone with (Kemp) and stated that numerous times, 50 to 60 times he estimated throughout the evening, Jarred Kemp had indicated he wanted to end his life,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson commented that Kemp had been drinking on Oct. 1 when he was not supposed to be, but is not certain whether alcohol intoxication played a factor in the events that followed.
In addition to the RCPD officers, the scene also involved RCPD negotiators, Pawnee Mental Health co-responders, close friends and family and Fort Riley personnel.
Kemp died on Oct. 3 from his injuries.
Dennis Butler, RCPD director, called Kemp’s death a “tragedy.”
“Members of the RCPD try to avoid outcomes like this whenever possible,” Butler said. “Mr. Kemp appeared to be experiencing a mental-health crisis and his death is a tragedy, that we were unable to get him the help that he so sorely needed.”
The Lawrence Police Department conducted a third-party investigation of the incident in that was sent to Wilkerson for review.
Butler says that he did not have any contact with the Lawrence Police Department during the investigation.
The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave following the incident. They are now serving in administrative roles away from the public pending an evaluation by a shooting-review team.
