Kilbourne Testifies At His Trial In Butler County

The second day of the jury trial ended with both the State and defense resting in the trial for the man accused of shooting a Butler County sheriff’s deputy on Labor Day.

Jan Tracy Kilbourne, 41, is accused of shooting a deputy during a "Terry stop" in the early morning hours of September 2.

Authorities initially called it a traffic stop but there were no traffic violations. Instead, the officer made a "Terry stop," under suspicion of a car in a parking lot during the early morning hours of the Labor Day holiday.

He said he did not intend to kill the deputy.

"I just actually wanted to spook him away. I thought that he was further away then right there," said Kilbourne as he testified in court.

When his defense attorney asked him, "When you drew that weapon and fired it, what was your intent?"

"Scare him," said Kilbourne.

The defense attorney continued with the following questions, "Did you intend to strike the officer?" and "Did you intend for the round to hit the officer?"

Kilbourne replied no to both questions.

The deputy had just collected information from the driver and had gone back to his patrol car when Kilbourne fired a revolver. The deputy was hit in the shoulder with the protective vest stopping the bullet. The deputy then returned fire.

During today’s testimony, the deputy said that besides the first shot that was fired, he could not testify if a second round was ever fired by the shooter.

Law enforcement officers searched for Kilbourne for several days, until he was arrested four days later in Wichita.

He was charged with attempted capital murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a felon and interference with law enforcement.

In October, Kilbourne pleaded not guilty during the preliminary hearing but the judge determined there was enough evidence to send him to trial.

The jury will return tomorrow at 10 a.m. Deliberations are expected on Thursday.