Fugitive Wanted for Shooting Missouri Officer Arrested in Ellis, Kansas

A manhunt that spanned state lines came to a close early Tuesday morning in the northwest-central Kansas town of Ellis, as authorities arrested 27-year-old Thomas Eugene Tolbert, the suspect at the center of a Blue Alert issued out of Missouri.

Tolbert was taken into custody without incident at approximately 4:50 a.m. inside a hotel at 204 N. Washington Street in Ellis. The operation involved officers from the Hays Police Department, deputies from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, and agents with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), acting on a tip that Tolbert might be at the location.

The arrest brought an end to a tense, multi-day search following a Sunday night shooting in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, that left a police officer critically injured. Authorities say the shooting occurred after officers responded to a domestic disturbance and Tolbert fled on foot, opening fire during the pursuit.

Tolbert was wanted on a Missouri warrant with multiple serious charges, including:

• Assault in the first degree or attempted serious physical injury

• Armed criminal action

• Unlawful possession of a firearm

• Resisting arrest or detention by fleeing

• Second-degree domestic assault

• 
  

He is currently being held at the Ellis County Jail.

Tolbert had initially fled the scene in a vehicle that was later recovered in Grandview, Missouri. Law enforcement agencies across Missouri and Kansas were on high alert, and a Blue Alert — a public notification used to enlist help when a suspect involved in a violent attack on law enforcement is on the run — was extended into Kansas.

The arrest in Ellis, located just off I-70 in central Kansas and within the extended listening range of NWKS Radio, brings local significance to a case that had drawn regional attention.

The officer shot in Lee’s Summit remains in critical condition.

The KBI has since canceled the Blue Alert, but the case remains under investigation.

Press Release from the Ellis County Police Department posted on Facebook Tuesday morning: