Prosecutors say officers involved in the fatal shooting of the Salina man will not be charged

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The police officers and state forces involved in the fatal shooting of Salina man were justified in their actions and will not face charges, prosecutors said.

Salina police officers went to the home of Larry Wray Jr., 44, on July 24 to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. While doing so, an officer spotted 25-year-old Jesse Wray in the detached garage pointing a gun at the officer, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday. Jesse Wray also had a warrant and the officers withdrew, the KBI said.

Other officers and troops arrived. Jesse Wray refused the order to come out. After a while they saw smoke and flames coming from the garage and the door opened. A woman came out with her hands up. Jesse Wray ran after her and crouched behind a pickup truck in what appeared to be a shooting position as he extended his hands toward officers, the affidavit said. Two officers fired nine bullets but did not hit him.

Jesse Wray then ran to the side of the garage where he encountered an officer and a soldier. They fired four shots, fatally wounding him. Investigators found a black BB gun designed to look like a revolver in the damaged garage and determined the fire was deliberately set.

Saline County Jeffrey Abel said in a letter to the KBI on Nov. 4 that while the video makes it clear that Wray did not have a gun in his hand when he left the garage, his gestures and demeanor “would lead any reasonable person to believe that there was a gun raised and pointed at officers.”

He added that no one would be charged “because any reasonable officer would believe the use of deadly force was justified.”

A funeral home obituary indicated that Jesse Wray was the son of Larry Wray.