AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING BY HOBBS POLICE LEAVES ONE MAN AND A WOMAN BELIEVED TO BE HIS ROOMMATE DEAD. OFFICERS WERE SENT TO A HOME ON CLEARFORK AROUND 5:00 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON CONCERNING A MAN THREATENING SUICIDE. WHEN THEY ARRIVED, THE MAN … 48 YEAR OLD KENNETH LANPHIER … IS SAID TO HAVE BRANDISHED A GUN AT THE OFFICERS … THEN SHOT AT THEM. THEY RETURNED FIRE … HITTING LANPHIER, WHO LATER DIED AT A HOSPITAL IN LUBBOCK, TEXAS.
THE FEMALE ROOMMATE WAS INSIDE THE HOME AT THE TIME, BUT WAS ALSO HIT BY THE OFFICERS’ GUNFIRE. SHE ALSO DIED AT THE HOSPITAL.
THE OFFICERS … WHO HAVE YET TO BE IDENTIFIED … ARE ON STANDARD ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AS STATE POLICE INVESTIGATE.
