Kansas officer who fatally shot suspect won’t be charged

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – A suburban Wichita police officer who fatally shot a man last year will not face charges.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Friday the officer who shot 40-year-old Chad Leichhardt at a Haysville apartment was lawfully defending a woman being threatened by Leichhardt.

Investigators say Leichhardt was holding his girlfriend with a knife to her throat and threatening to kill her when the officer shot him last August.

Bennett says the woman was afraid for her life and other officers at the scene thought Leichhardt might kill her. He says the knife was at the woman’s throat until the officer fired a single shot, killing Leichhardt.

The officer’s name has not been released. He’s an 18-year police veteran and was the senior officer at the scene.