Kansas shocked by shooting

5:28 p.m. | Saturday, June 29 – Per a report from the Champaign County Coroner, Xavier T. Harris, 34, of Terre Haute, Ind. was pronounced dead at 3:47 p.m. Friday, June 28 as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound received during Friday's altercation in Kansas.

WCIA 3 first broke the news of Harris' death.

The shooting is still under investigation.

KANSAS – Residents of the small, sleepy town of Kansas reported hearing gunshots, sirens and the whirring rotors of a helicopter on Friday, June 28.

Shortly after 2 p.m., “six to seven” gunshots rang out from an apartment complex on Cook Drive according to a nearby neighbor.

“I thought it was fireworks,” she said.

After arriving on the scene, police officers and first responders discovered two individuals with gunshot wounds. Initial reports claim one of the individuals shot the other, before they retreated into a building and turned the gun on themselves. At the time of publication, the status of the parties involved is unknown, as is their identity.

Jeff King, a neighbor and 24-year resident of Kansas, was not familiar with the individuals involved in the shooting.

“I think they’ve only lived here about two months,” he told a Prairie Press reporter.

The shooting elicited shock from residents.

“We never have this kind of stuff happen over here,” said a local fireman on the scene.

Following a swift response from Horizon Health EMS and Kansas Ambulance Services, an Air Evac helicopter was called and landed on the Kansas School baseball diamond shortly after 2:30 p.m. One individual was airlifted to Carle Hospital in Champaign, while the other was transported via ambulance to Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital in Mattoon.

The incident is currently under investigation by the Kansas Police Department, Edgar County Sheriff’s Office and state authorities. The only information law enforcement on-scene could confirm was the number of victims.

“We’re waiting on state crime scene (investigators) to get here and do their thing,” said Edgar County Sheriff Jeff Wood.

This is an evolving story. For the latest updates and information, visit prairiepress.net.