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Kansas undersheriff on trial in fatal 2017 beanbag shooting

Virgil Brewer
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The trial of a Kansas undersheriff accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man in 2017 with a homemade beanbag round out of his personal shotgun is set to get underway this week.

Jury selection began Monday for the manslaughter trial of Barber County undersheriff Virgil Brewer in Kansas City, Kansas, the Associated Press reported.

According to the news outlet, Brewer is charged with reckless involuntary manslaughter.

The Associated Press reported that on Oct. 6, 2017, Brewer, Barber County Sheriff Lonnie Small, and Deputy Mark Suchy were responding to a report of a man, later identified as Steven Myers, holding a gun on a street.

They searched for Myers until they found him hiding in a shed. According to court records, Brewer and Suchy told the Kansas Bureau of Investigation Myers wasn't armed, the news outlet reported when they found him.

In body camera footage, Brewer is shown telling Myers to “get on the ground” before shooting Myers in the chest with his own personal weapon, killing him, the news outlet reported.