INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A police officer is lucky to be alive after a man with a rifle shot him in the head Wednesday night.
Investigators said a dispute among neighbors turned into a gunfight with police near East Ninth Street and South Carlisle Avenue.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Independence police responded to a 911 call about a man with a rifle shooting into the home of one of his neighbors. Witnesses report hearing shots at about 11 p.m.
The highway patrol said threats of violence were part of an ongoing dispute between neighbors on the block.
Police confronted the armed man in the backyard of one of the homes and investigators said there was an exchange of gunfire.
A shot hit one officer in the head.