Comanche County law enforcement officials Monday confirmed the unoccupied vehicle of a local school board member in Coldwater was peppered with gunshots on Sunday evening. The vehicle owner is Comanche County school board president Kelly Herd, a member of the board since 2016. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — Comanche County law enforcement officials Monday asked for the public’s help investigating an incident in which 10 bullets were fired into the unoccupied, parked vehicle of the local school board president.
President Kelly Herd, and other members of the school board in southwest Kansas, have been embroiled in controversy that led to the suspension of superintendent Ty Theurer pending an inquiry into allegations he sexually harassed and inappropriately touched a student.
The student’s family filed a sexual harassment complaint and police report in the spring, but Herd worked for months to downplay substance of the allegations and to preserve Theurer’s administrative position.
The school board voted Sept. 3 to suspend Theurer with pay after more than 100 community members packed a school board meeting to demand disciplinary action. Many in the audience loudly criticized the board’s handling of the students’ complaint. There was a law enforcement presence at that meeting, but outrage was confined to a series of outbursts by people in the crowd and by Herd.
At 8:30 p.m. Sunday night, the sheriff’s department said, a vehicle parked at a residence in the 500 block of East Cottonwood in Coldwater was struck by gunfire approximately 10 times. Herd has resided at a house in that block for decades.
Sheriff Jacob Bruckner confirmed the vehicle was owned by a USD 300 school board member. He said the Kansas Bureau of Investigation responded to help process the crime scene and assist with the investigation.
“The vehicle was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported,” Bruckner said. “The investigation is ongoing.”
In a social media post, the sheriff urged Coldwater residents to check home security systems for video of vehicles or people in the neighborhood around the time of the shooting.
Steve Prusa, a member of Comanche County’s school board, said he was notified of the incident at the board president’s home shortly after it occurred.
The reality of someone turning to firearms to make a point about leadership of a public school district was alarming, he said.
“It’s not just a vandalism,” Prusa said. “It’s definitely to a different level.”
He said members of the school board, who don’t receive a salary, had stepped forward to serve because they sought to be of benefit to the community and assume a role in the education of students. The Comanche County district enrolls about 300 students.
“I am devastated and heartbroken for our community. Violence cannot be an answer to anything,” Prusa said.
Comanche County school board member Dean Yoder said it was wrong to interject violence into debate about education.
“So glad her and her family are OK,” Yoder said. “There is never a need for violence. Ever.”
Herd declined to comment.
