3 Kansas City officers shot, searching suspected drug house

Authorities say three Kansas City police officers were shot and wounded while searching a suspected drug house, prompting a standoff

Three Kansas City police officers were shot and wounded while searching a suspected drug house, prompting a standoff there early Wednesday, authorities said.

The tactical response team officers forced entry into a house around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when they were fired upon, Kansas City police Chief Stacey Graves told reporters outside a hospital.

The officers shot back. They were taken to the hospital, where they were in non-life-threatening condition, Graves said.

Two people came out of the house between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and were taken into custody, said Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Andy Bell. Their names weren't immediately released and no charges have been filed yet.

Bell said law enforcement remained outside the house Wednesday morning while trying to determine whether anyone else was still inside.

"We’re trying to get robotics or drones or any any technology to take a look inside the house before we would ask an officer to go inside the house because last time an officer went inside the house three officers got shot," he said.

He said the case started as a federal drug investigation. The patrol said the Jackson County Drug Task Force, which works with federal agencies, requested the assistance of the Kansas City SWAT team to serve the search warrant.

The officers had announced that they were police before trying to enter the home, Graves said.

“They are highly trained, good men,” Graves said of the wounded officers. “And, you know, we’re just so thankful tonight that each one of them, I was able to to physically talk to them.”