Rice County sheriff sore, but ready to get back to work
Three days after being shot in the line of duty, the Rice County Sheriff says he soon plans to be back to work.
Sheriff Bryant Evans tells Eyewitness News reporter Devon Fasbinder he was shot in his cruiser on Monday, during a shootout with a suspect who had shot his undersheriff. Authorities would eventually find the shooter, identified as David L. Madden, dead in his father's home in Raymond, Kan. The KBI says Madden shot and killed his father too.
Evans says during the shootout a bullet went through the door of his cruiser, through his armrest and into his leg. While he was injured, Evans' wife says he didn't want to leave the scene.
"I know he did not want to leave. He wanted to stay with his guys," said Angela Evans in a statement. "So thank you so much for taking care of my husband."
Evans says behind a wound to his leg, the bullet left a half-dollar-size hole in his cruiser.
The KBI says Undersheriff Chad Murphy, who was wounded in a shooting less than an hour before, remains in the hospital in serious condition, but the prognosis for his recovery is good.
Evans says Murphy is awake, alert and doing well.
A fund was established for those inquiring about how they can assist during his recovery. Donations can be made at the Alden State Bank in Sterling or mailed to the bank at:
Donations will be used for medical expenses or other personal or family expenses related to this incident.
Angela Evans issued the following statement thanking the community for their overwhelming support and for taking care of her husband. You can read her full statement below.
At his home Thursday, Sheriff Bryant Evans walked us through the Monday night call in which he discovered that his undersheriff had been shot.
"It wasn't easy seeing (Murphy) at the first crime scene," Evans says.
The KBI says Madden shot Murphy four times.
"Chad (Murphy) knew who it was when he pulled him over, so (I) directed all forces towards Alden and I just waited," Evans says.
Evans went toward Madden's home in Alden when he says someone stopped him and said Madden already left town.
"I ended up getting information from a local firefighter that he had spotted the vehicle going into Madden's, his father's residence in Raymond," Evans says. "And so as we approached that house, coming up on Avenue S, we started receiving gunfire and that's where I was hit at."
That gunfire came before Evans even left his vehicle. He was hit, but still got out of the car, ready for Madden.
"I wasn't too concerned. The threat was still out there. That was my concern," Evans says.
At that point, the sheriff didn't know how Murphy was doing.
Evans says he was west of Madden's father's house when he started taking gunfire. He says once everything calmed down, the shots stopped and everyone was safe, he knew he had to make a phone call.
"He says, 'I need you to hear this from me first because you are getting ready to get your phone blown up. I have been shot,'" Angela Evans says of the call from her husband. 'I am okay and I am still in the fight.'"
Angela Evans says she was trying to process information from her husband when finally, a paramedic eased her worry.
"(The paramedic) says, 'Angie, we have Bryant. We have him,'" she recalls. "And I was pretty emotional because I didn't know what was going on and it's hard not to know."
Bryant and Angela Evans say Murphy is getting better every day and the community has shown how much it cares with wreaths, notes and even the surprise of a freshly-cut lawn.
"It's the small things like that that our community does at times of need when we absolutely are needing that support," Bryant Evans says.
