‘What are these clowns going to do?’ a former Wichita officer said. They arrested him

When Bruce Mackey’s stepson told him the police were on their way to his Goddard home, the former Wichita police officer laughed.

“What are these clowns going to do?” he told the 25-year-old stepson. “Do you know who I am?”

Mackey, a 21-year veteran of the Wichita Police Department who resigned earlier this year, was arrested on July 4 on suspicion of felony criminal threat and domestic violence. He pleaded guilty last month in federal court to outing a fellow officer in 2014 at an illegal gambling game by telling the organizers that one of the gamblers was a Wichita police officer working undercover.

The probable cause affidavit for Mackey’s July 4 arrest was made public Tuesday after a judge denied the state’s motion to redact the document. It lays out the Goddard Police Department’s reasoning for arresting Mackey, based on witness testimony and sworn testimony from officers.

On the Fourth of July, Mackey threatened the life of his wife, his stepson and his stepson’s baby, the affidavit says.

According to the affidavit, this is what happened:

That night, Mackey’s wife asked him if it would be OK if her son and her son’s girlfriend, along with the young couple’s infant child, came over to their Goddard home. He agreed they could come over but told his wife that he did not want them staying for the entire night.

Shortly after the young family arrived at Mackey’s house, his wife went to bed. Mackey came into the room three times after that, each time more agitated than the last.

On his third trip into the bedroom after his wife had gone to bed, he told his wife he was going to beat her son if the son and his family didn’t leave immediately.

Mackey’s stepson, who is identified as “CJO” in the affidavit, was in the basement when he heard his mother and Mackey arguing upstairs.

That’s when he heard Mackey call his mother a name and threaten to kill her.

CJO immediately went upstairs “to protect his mother.”

As CJO reached the top of the stairs, he saw Mackey grab his mother’s right arm and shove her against the wall. He stepped between Mackey and his mother, but Mackey shoved him into the wall, too.

Mackey then challenged his stepson to hit him. When CJO didn’t, Mackey spat in his face.

“I’m going to end you, shoot you, and kill you!” Mackey told his stepson.

CJO told the mother of his child to take the baby and get out of the house. As the girlfriend walked past Mackey, he threatened her life.

“I’ll kill you,” he told her. “I’ll shoot you.”

Once the girlfriend and baby were outside, CJO told Mackey the police had been called and were on their way. That’s when Mackey laughed and said: “What are these clowns going to do? Do you know who I am?”

CJO told Mackey to calm down, that he was scaring his baby.

“I’ll end him, too,” Mackey said.

The stepson told Goddard police that Mackey’s threats of violence made him fearful for the well-being of himself and his family, considering Mackey’s prior work experience and training.

Mackey is facing three felony counts of criminal threat and two misdemeanor counts of domestic violence in the case.

This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 6:23 PM.