Warsaw police chief hurt in officer-involved shooting

The chief of the Warsaw Police Department and a 16-year-old suspect were injured in a shooting Friday morning.

Chief Jason Wenberg responded to a suspicious subject at 8:15 a.m. Friday, according to tweets from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop A. An altercation occurred between Wenberg and the teenage suspect after he arrived on the scene.

The suspect reportedly displayed a handgun and fired at Wenberg, striking him in his ballistic vest. The chief returned fire and struck the suspect.

Wenberg was treated and released from Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton. The 16-year-old was flown to Columbia Regional Hospital with a serious gunshot wound. The suspect is now sedated and stable, according to a Facebook post from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

The same juvenile reportedly fired on law enforcement officers the night before, striking police vehicles but causing no injuries. He led officers on a high-speed pursuit in a stolen car before abandoning the vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Office post. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office deployed a K9 unit and tracked the suspect for several hours.

The MSHP Division of Drug and Crime Control will investigate the incident at the request of Warsaw police. Troop A public information officer Collin Stosberg said no other suspects are involved in the case. The highway patrol is withholding the alleged shooter’s name at this time, which is procedure in juvenile cases.

MSHP has been working closely with WPD and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office along with other nearby law enforcement partners. Stosberg said the highway patrol often serves as an additional resource for local investigations as they arise.

In this case, he said officers and troopers are thankful the outcome wasn’t worse.

“Our goal at the end of every shift is to go home to our families,” he said. “We’ve seen over the last year tragic outcomes following officer-involved shootings where officers were killed in the line of duty, including the two officers in Clinton. We’re thankful no innocent civilians were injured and the suspect was taken into custody without further incident.”