3 shot dead in 2 police shootings in Kansas City

June 15 (UPI) — Kansas City police shot and killed three people in two separate incidents within just a few hours, authorities said Friday.

Authorities said the first involved a woman with a sword, and the second two men fighting over a gun and a golf cart in the middle of a public square downtown.

One witness said it was frightening to see the gunfire in such a public place.

“Police were rushing over to where two bodies seemed to be on the ground,” witness Madison Wolf told KCTV. “This is a place where we, literally all my co-workers, we frequent down here all the time.”

The woman with the sword was shot after barricading herself in a shed for hours, officials said.

Kansas City police are investigating both incidents.

Capt. Lionel Colón said the officers’ actions met the criteria for the use of lethal force.

“I wasn’t there, but if officers are going to use their weapons, it’s only in a situation when their lives or the lives of the public are in danger,” Colón said.

Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith said it’s unusual to have two police shootings in such a short period of time.

“Obviously when things like this happen, it’s upsetting to a lot of people. It’s upsetting to our officers & it’s upsetting to this city,” Smith said. “But I do know we have a duty to protect the people of this city. That’s our job.”