A suspect in a Tuesday morning shooting at the Jewell County Sheriff’s Office is dead after shooting himself following a pursuit which ended in Ottawa County.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) agents are investigating the shooting of two Jewell County sheriff’s deputies which occurred Tuesday morning at the Sheriff’s Office in Mankato, Kan.

Preliminary information indicates that on Aug. 28 at approximately 7:52 a.m., a male subject, identified as Jason L. Whitson, 40, of Mankato, entered the Sheriff’s Office. He walked up to the dispatch desk and requested to talk to a deputy. As a sheriff’s deputy approached to speak with him, Whitson fired multiple times through a door that led into the dispatch room. Two deputies were injured during the shooting. No law enforcement officers discharged their firearms.

Whitson then fled the Sheriff’s Office. Since he was recognized by personnel at the Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement immediately began to locate him and the vehicle they assumed he would be driving.

At approximately 8:45 a.m., a Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) trooper spotted Whitson’s vehicle and pursued him Eastbound on US-24 Highway. When the vehicle was just south of Minneapolis, Kan., an adult female and five minor children were allowed to exit. Whitson then continued onto US-81 Highway where law enforcement used a maneuver that forced the vehicle to stop.

Once the vehicle was stopped, KHP Troopers approached it and found him suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No law enforcement officers at this scene discharged their firearms.

EMS responded and transported Whitson to Salina Regional Health Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Both Sheriff’s deputies are expected to recover from their injuries. One deputy has been released from a local hospital. The second deputy remains at a Salina hospital, but is out of surgery and is now in stable condition.

This investigation is ongoing.

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A suspect in a Tuesday morning shooting at the Jewell County Sheriff’s Office was transported to Salina Regional Health Center after apparently shooting himself following a high speed pursuit which ended in Ottawa County.

Jewel County Sheriff Don Jacobs says investigators are working to determine exactly what happened Tuesday at its office in Mankato, when two deputies were injured. Just before 8:00  a gunman entered the sheriff’s office and opened fire.

One deputy was airlifted from the scene and was scheduled to undergo surgery at Salina Regional Health Center. The second deputy was treated for his injuries at an area hospital and was expected to be released Tuesday.

Following the shooting, the suspect fled the area in a van. Authorities at the time identified him as Jason Whitson.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Whitson was spotted at around 8:45 in a minivan near Glasco on U.S. 24 Highway. He continued on the highway at about 70 mph until stopping to let out passengers and heading south on U.S. 81 Highway.

Troopers performed a tactical vehicle intervention and Whitson lost control and stopped on the road in Ottawa County, about 10 miles north of Salina.

After stopping, Whitson suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported by Minneapolis EMS to Salina Regional Health Center in critical condition.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan tells KSAL News that patrol units from his office and the Salina Police Department were dispatched to area interstate exits and highways after they received a statewide dispatch.

ORIGINAL:

A suspect in a Tuesday morning shooting at the Jewell County Sheriff’s Office was transported to Salina Regional Health Center after apparently shooting himself following a high speed pursuit which ended in Ottawa County.

Authorities say two deputies were shot during an incident at the sheriff’s office in Mankato at around 8:00 in the morning.

The suspect identified as Jason Whitson fled the area in a van.

Authorities say at one point during the chase, Whitson stopped the vehicle to let a woman and two children out – and then drove on.

Whitson’s van was later located. Following a  pursuit which ended along Highway 81 in Ottawa County, the suspect was wounded with what authorities say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The suspect was transported by Minneapolis EMS to Salina Regional Health Center in critical condition.

Authorities say the two deputies suffered critical injuries.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan tells KSAL News that patrol units from his office and the Salina Police Department were dispatched to area interstate exits and highways after they received a statewide dispatch earlier this morning.