HAYSVILLE, Kan. (KAKE) - An armed man suspected of suffering mental illness is dead after police officers shot him outside a liquor store in Haysville. 

Officers responded just before 5 p.m. Tuesday to check the welfare of a reported suicidal person at a home in the 200 block of North Lamar. Police Chief Jeff Whitfield said officers didn't find the person at the address but got a vehicle description and a tag number. 

Police located the person in the 200 block of North Main Street at around 5:30 p.m. 

"The officers initially saw a gun that was on the subject's person. That's what causes them some alarm," Chief Whitfield said at the scene. "They tried to convince him to keep his hands where they could see them."

The chief later clarified in a release that the gun was in the man's lap. 

Officers told the man multiple times to keep his hands where they could see them as they tried to deescalate the situation. Chief Whitfield said officers then saw the man reach for his gun and that is when the officers shot him.

"My kid thought it was firecrackers. I said, 'no that's gunshots,'" said Tina Disavatino, a witness. “I saw them shoot five rounds and it was over pretty quickly.”

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released. 

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting. 

 
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