A 1st Infantry Division Soldier died in an officer-involved shooting on August 8th in Junction City.
Specialist Peter James Robbins, 23, a field artillery Firefinder radar operator with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., died following an early morning incident involving the Junction City Police Department.
“The 1st Bn., 5th FA Regt., team is deeply saddened by the loss of Spc. Robbins,” said Lt. Col. Richard J. Ikena Jr., commander of the 1st Bn., 5th FA Regt. “Our team is prepared to fully support Spc. Robbins’ family, teammates and friends through these challenging times.”
Robbins joined the Army in February 2013 and arrived at Fort Riley in August 2013. He deployed to Iraq in June 2014 and to South Korea in October 2016.
His home of record is Albuquerque, New Mexico.
His awards include the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.
An investigation with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is ongoing.
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The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating an officer involved shooting that occurred early Tuesday morning on the west side of Junction City.
Junction City Police Chief Dan Breci held a press conference Tuesday afternoon where he reported that the initial call to police was for a welfare check of a possibly suicidal subject. Soon after arriving at a residence on Windwood Drive (off Ash Street), another call came in to authorities reporting an armed man at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at 1723 McFarland Road in Junction City.
Authorities from the Junction City Police Department (JCPD) and Geary County Sheriff’s Office (GESO) responded to the Walmart parking lot.
“When [we] got there [the subject] was walking through the [Walmart] parking lot,” said Breci. “[Officers] had about an eight minute conversation with him trying to get him to put the guns down, and for most of that conversation he had a gun to his temple and a gun pointed at our officers.”
The subject was given commands to drop his weapons. The confrontation escalated and four law enforcement officers – three from the JCPD, and one from the GESO – fired at the subject.
The subject – whose identity will not be released until next of kin has been appropriately notified – was pronounced dead at the scene. He was a 23 year old white male from Fort Riley.
No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.
“We’re continuing this investigation right now, we have a lot of paperwork, a lot of tie-ups – it just doesn’t stop when we leave the scene,” said Breci. “This investigation [includes] downloading body cameras, video cameras, video from Walmart, [and] video from surrounding businesses.”
Breci noted that the JCPD officers involved were equipped with body cameras,and both the GESO and JCPD vehicles had dash cam video recording.
All officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, per protocol. JCPD Chaplains will meet with all parties involved, including dispatchers, for “grief counseling”. Breci noted that a 16 year old male high school intern was taking part in a ride-along with one of the responding officers and witnessed the incident. He has been interning with the JCPD for a year.
“The sad fact is that somebody lost their life, so it isn’t a day to celebrate/to say things went great, because they didn’t,” said Breci. “Today wasn’t a success story, other than we prevented him from hurting other people.”
There were three calls to law enforcement for possibly suicidal subjects on Monday evening/early Tuesday morning.
The investigation has been turned over to the KBI, and is ongoing.