Sgt. Steven Kenner E.O.W. 07-08-11

Sgt. Steven Kenner, a longtime and well-known police officer, became the  first officer in the Bismarck Police Department to be killed on the job.

“We know this is a significant event of great interest in the community and  of sorrow,” Police Chief Keith Witt said Saturday at a press conference.

Kenner, 56, had worked for 32 years with the department. He was one of 101  officers on the Bismarck force. The family is not releasing a statement at this  time.

Police gave this account of the shooting:

Kenner and another officer responded to a domestic disturbance call at 10:38  p.m. Friday in the 2500 block of East Broadway Avenue involving a man  threatening a woman with a knife.

When Kenner and another officer arrived at the home on East Broadway on  Friday, they found Stephen G. Bannister in a white van. He fired, hitting  Kenner. The other officer returned fire; Bannister was struck. Kenner and  Bannister were taken to local hospitals and Kenner was pronounced dead.

Bannister is in fair condition at St. Alexius Medical Center and is being  guarded by police.

“Charges will be filed Monday,” Burleigh County State’s Attorney Richard Riha  said. “We are fairly confident it will be a murder charge.”

The officer who shot Bannister is on administrative leave, per department  policy, while the investigation is conducted. His name was not released because  the incident is under investigation. Department policy allows officers to fire  their weapons if they or someone else are in imminent danger, Witt said.

How many times Kenner or Bannister were shot was not released, pending  investigation, nor the location of their wounds. Officers are issued bulletproof  vests, but Witt would not comment on whether Kenner was wearing his vest

“Officers are issued them and required to wear them, but there are  exceptions,” Witt said.

The name of the woman involved in the disturbance was not released. She was  referred to the Abused Adult Resource Center, Witt said. She told the Tribune on  Saturday that Bannister had been drinking and became upset when someone knocked  on the door. He grabbed a knife and threatened to slit her throat, she said. She told him to leave, and he went to his van. Her son called police.

Neighbors thought the gunshots Friday night might have been fireworks. That  changed as some neighbors on 25th Street, between Rosser and Broadway, saw a  Bismarck police officer fall to the ground.

“I was sitting in a car, waiting to go somewhere, when I heard them yelling, ‘Put your hands up,’” said Shilo Black Lance. “Shot were fired and I saw the  officer fall down.”

The car she was in was parked on the west side of 25th Street, facing the  standoff between the officers and a man in a white van. They stayed in the car,  hunkered down, until they thought it was safe to go back to their home, she  said.

“I can’t believe he died,” she said, while wiping tears from her eyes. “You  never think you’ll see someone get shot.”

Candace Hulm and Kelly Hoerner were stopping at home to pick up race car  rims, when they heard the gunshots.

“Thought they were fireworks,” Hoerner said. “They’ve been blowing them off  every night since Monday around here.”

They got back in their car, then drove down 25th Street. An SUV stopped in  front of them, and Hulm went to drive around it. Then, they saw the police.

“They told us to get the hell out of the way,” Hoerner said of police  officers.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Hulm said.

Neither Black Lance, Hulm nor Hoerner knew the people involved in the  incident.

Lorne Campbell of Bismarck said he was walking in the area at about 11 p.m.,  when he heard the shots.

“I was walking west on Thayer and 25th Street, and I was looking south and I  saw two officers run to a parked van on the west side of 25th across from the  trailer park,” Campbell said.

“They yelled at the occupants of the van: ‘Police officers. Show me your  hands.” they asked that several times,” Campbell said.

“I walked out of view, and I heard about eight shots, and I turned around and  went back and looked, and I saw a police officer on the west side of the van  lying on the ground. I stood and watched for a few seconds. I could see many  more officers were arriving on the scene and more guns, and I thought I should  leave,” Campbell said. “I walked around the corner, about a block west and south, where a police officer stationed himself and told me to leave the  area.”