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MP Robert Kunze has never been "just a man in uniform," said one of his former colleagues after learning he had been shot in the line of duty.
The veteran of the 12-year-old Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office responded to a call for a suspicious character on Sunday when the suspect shot him dead.
"I really think people deserve to know who he was and what they lost," said Teresa Lee, former reserve MP, at The Wichita Eagle.
Lee said she worked with Kunze for about three years while she was a volunteer assistant at the Sheriff's Office. She could not remember when she met Kunze for the first time, but she said that Sheriff Jeff Easter had just been elected. Easter was elected in 2012.
"Kunze was not just an anonymous face for me," Lee said on Facebook. "He was not just another deputy."
Kunze was her main training agent in the field, she said. As a volunteer, she worked with many officers.
But Kunze was different.
"I know people say that when people die – they say," Oh, he was a nice guy "- but he was a super nice guy who always smiled, always doing jokes , always laughing, "she continued. . "I knew that I was frustrated or overwhelmed, I knew I was going to have a good day because I was with Kunze."
During Sunday's press conference on the shooting, Easter said the department would remember Kunze for "his smile, infectious laughter and ability to engage everyone in a conversation."
He also worked with great pride, said Easter.
Kunze, 41, joined the department in 2006 after working at the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office for six years.
"It's such a devastating loss that he was a good MP," Lee said. "He was friendly, able to talk with people with the utmost ease, he had a ton of knowledge …"
Easter said the MP's death is a tragedy.
"A member of our family was killed in the line of duty," he said Sunday.
Other sheriff's office workers were not prepared to talk about the loss, said Sheriff spokesman Tim Meyers.
"This tragedy is an open wound for all the sheriff's office workers," he said.
Kunze is survived by his wife and daughter.
The sheriff's office accepts cards and messages of condolence for the Kunze family. They may be sent to the Sheriff's Office at 141 W. Elm, Wichita, KS 67203.
The office also hosts a candlelight vigil for Kunze at 19 hours. Tuesday at the Wichita / Sedgwick Memorial in front of Wichita City Hall near Central and Main.
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