The Wichita Eagle

Wichita private investigator Emery Goad was shot Saturday morning while trying to repossess a car.

Goad, 59, was trying to repossess a Rolls Royce in the 900 block of South Armour, near Woodlawn and Lincoln, said Lt. Jeff Easter. Goad, who was with an assistant and another person, had the papers to take the vehicle, Easter said.

Police said the man who lives in the house went inside and came back out with a handgun, firing twice.

One shot struck Goad in the back. He was taken to Wesley Medical Center in critical condition and was listed in serious condition after surgery Saturday afternoon.

The 76-year-old man who lives at the house was booked into Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder. The Eagle does not name suspects who have not been charged.

Easter said police plan to present their case to the Sedgwick County district attorney's office next week for pursuit of charges.

Goad, who runs Kansas Investigative Services, worked in Kansas Attorney General Vern Miller's office in the early 1970s.

It's a shame that Goad was shot while trying to do his job, said Miller, who is also a former county sheriff and district attorney.

He said Goad is "tops in his field" and extremely careful about working within the law.

"He was always meticulous about court orders. He always made sure he was right before he repossessed or did anything," Miller said.

Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, said Saturday that he has known Goad for more than two decades.

Journey, a longtime Wichita lawyer and advocate for gun owners' rights, said he would be surprised if the shooting was justified.

"If Emery was serving papers, he certainly had legal authority to do it," Journey said.

"The law allows for when one reasonably believes that they are in fear of great bodily harm or death of themselves or another.

"Just because somebody is taking your car -- the law doesn't justify the use of deadly force."

Goad's work hasn't always made him popular, Miller said, but it's an important job.

"Some people thought he was too hard. But he was acting on orders of the court. He was the court's officer," he said. "If it were not for fellows like him the court system would be very weak."

Goad's work can be dangerous, Miller said, but he has never seen Goad carry a gun.

Goad has always been "the kind of guy who wasn't scared of anything."
Source:

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/new...l/11592447.htm