by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Sumner County Attorney Kerwin Spencer made it official Friday afternoon during a press conference held at his courthouse office, he will not be making any charges in the shooting of Joseph Lamasters, 42, of Creston, Iowa in the South Haven area.

Spencer presented his findings to the media in a detailed report of the shooting incident that killed Lamasters on March 4, 2013. Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers was also present at the press conference.

Kerwin Spencer

The county attorney cited two Kansas state statutes for not arresting the Sumner County resident. One statute allows a citizen to make a citizen’s arrest if a felony crime is in progress and the second allowing a person the right to defend him/herself if imminent bodily harm or death is present.

“No criminal charges will be filed on the 52-year-old Sumner County resident,” Spencer said. “It is my opinion the only one who did a crime is the one who is deceased.” 

At approximately 5:20 p.m. on March 4, the Sumner County rural resident shot Lamasters with what was described as a shotgun, after the suspect fled an outbuilding shed at a rural Sumner County home. The property was not that of the rural man, but that of his cousins. The property owners were not at home at the time.

Lamasters was the subject of a manhunt in Sumner County earlier in the day after having been discovered driving a stolen car and being of probation violation in Iowa. He had abandoned the stolen car south of the South Turnpike gate shortly after 11:11 a.m. after failing to pay a toll. He would then run at large on foot for several hours in the rural area north of South Haven.

Eventually, Lamasters was discovered by the son of the 52-year-old man at 5 p.m. walking down the road. He was held at gunpoint by the Sumner County “pipe fitter,” who was previously described by the media as a “farmer.”

The suspect would flee, and in a 20-minute time span and appeared to be running in a southbound direction. The pipe fitter and his son would then travel south to a neighbor’s house. The fear at the time, Spencer said, was that the wife of the residence would be there as her husband was working elsewhere at time. Spencer said she was not at the residence either.

After the home was secured, the farmer and the son would go search the rural property outbuildings. Spencer said the son was the first to discover Lamasters, who was hiding behind what was described as a pile of discarded dog food bags in a metal shed.

According to Spencer, the son yelled at the dad, “he’s in the shed,” His dad who was coincidentally very close to the son at the time. Spencer said the pipe fitter then yelled to Lamasters, who was exiting the shed to “Stop, the police is coming.”

The suspect then yelled to the pipe fitter that “You don’t want to f*ck with me!I’ll kill you.” Spencer said Lamaster was about 8 to 10 feet from the Sumner County resident and appeared to be lunging for him. The pipe fitter then shot him.

Spencer said the question was what were Lamasters true intentions at that moment. Was he lunging at the pipe fitter, ready to attack him and wrestle the gun away? Or was he going to run past him in an attempt to flee? The pipe fitter chose to fire the gun.

“The man had a lot to think about, especially for the safety of his son,” Spencer said.

The following were some other questions surrounding the case and answers provided by Spencer.

•Should the man have waited for authorities?  Spencer said it is always best to have trained professionals handle the situation. Had there been law enforcement there Lamasters perhaps may have not tried to flee or attack, but stay in his spot as was instructed by the pipe fitter. However at the time, there were no Sumner County Sheriff deputies in the specific area in question. After the gun was shot, the deputies were on the scene in two or three minutes.

The deputies were indeed searching the area but were actually working away from the area.

•Why would Lamasters want to attack a man with a gun if he was unarmed? Lamasters had just one way to get out of the shed and that was through the front entrance where the pipe fitter and son were, Spencer said. He could not flee another direction.

“Again, no one will know the intentions of the suspect,” Spencer said. “But the 52-year-old had to weigh the option that he could be attacked and lose the gun, thus losing his advantage over him.”

•Why were the deputies not on the property at the time of the shooting? When the pipe fitter first contacted the Sheriff’s department it was around 5 p.m. and was at his residence. The suspect fled, running away from the property. Thus, when the deputies returned to the area, two hours after calling off  the search around 3 p.m. they had no idea where Lamasters had run toward or for that matter the pipe fitter and his son. So they were back to searching the area for a suspect at large. It was only by coincidence that the pipe fitter and his son stumbled across Lamasters before the deputies.

•Did the pipe fitter need to leave the neighbor’s home after it was discovered the wife was not home to search the building? Spencer said it was their legal right to do so to make sure the property is secured.

•Has the family of Lamasters family been in contact with the county attorney’s office? Spencer said he has spoken with a woman who claims to be his wife. Chambers said it was his girl friend. Spencer said he told her he was going to announce his finding of not charging the Sumner County man before the press conference, which he said she was not happy with.

•Why was the pipe fitter even involved? Spencer said that it was happenstance that the pipe fitter and his son ever came in contact with Lamasters. He was in Arkansas City around noon, when there was news that there was a suspect at large. When the son first discovered him five hours later, it was only then that they armed themselves with guns. And when Lamasters first fled the house he was at gunpoint but was running away from the father and son. The farmer did not shoot at that time.

•Why was Lamasters in Sumner County in the first place? As was stated in a previous interview with Chambers, he appeared to be looking for a job in Texas. But once he crossed the Iowa State Line he was in violation of his probation for various felonies. He stole a car from a railroad yard in Iowa from a person who didn’t know the vehicle was stolen until it was discovered in Sumner County. Lamasters was first alerted to authorities after failing to pay a turnpike fee. Two troopers were on the scene. One was south of the south turnpike gate and another coming from Wellington going southbound. Lamasters parked the car in between the two patrolmen and fled on foot.