Teen boy who fled sheriff by horse before shootout with Kansas troopers is charged

A boy who shot at Kansas cops after fleeing them on horseback has been criminally charged, but the state troopers who shot him will not be, prosecutors said.

The teenager who was injured during the shootout with Kansas Highway Patrol troopers in December was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, Smith County Attorney Tabitha Owen said in a news release. Investigators said the boy shot at the troopers first.

Deputies with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office were sent to a home in a rural area near Smith Center at around 10:20 a.m. on Dec. 15 after a 911 call, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has said. There, the deputies found a 66-year-old woman who reported being restrained, beaten and strangled.

A 15-year-old boy was the suspect in the case, and the he fled the area and sheriff’s deputies on horseback, the KBI said. He had a gun with him when state troopers found him, then eluded capture.

A few hours later — at around 2:20 p.m. — the boy shot at KHP troopers, the KBI said. Two troopers returned fire, and the child was struck by gunfire. No law enforcement officers were injured in the officer-involved shooting.

He was flown to a Kearney, Nebraska, hospital and underwent surgery. He was arrested by KBI agents last month and booked into jail at the Sedgwick County Juvenile Detention Facility in Wichita.

The boy’s identity has been withheld by state investigators because he is a juvenile. Prosecutors said he was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and six counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.

The county attorney’s office said they would not seek criminal charges against the officers involved. Owen said the troopers’ conduct was “justified as both self-defense and defense of others.”

The woman who reported being beaten was taken to a hospital and was expected to recover from her injuries.