Cody Allen, 35, an Independence police officer and father of two small children, was shot and killed Thursday.

Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman praised Allen’s “heroic actions” after a civil process server called for help during an eviction.

A Jackson County civil process server, identified as Drexel Mack, was also shot and killed.

Two other Independence police officers were shot. One underwent surgery and the other had minor injures. Both are expected to make full recoveries, Dustman said.

One suspect was taken into custody.

Thursday’s shooting took place shortly after 1 p.m. on the front porch of a private residence in the 1100 block of Elsea Smith Road, near Bundschu Road, in northeastern Independence.

Allen had served with the Grandview Police Department and then took a job in the private sector. But he missed being a police officer, Dustman said, and joined the Independence Police Department about two years ago.

“This is more than just a job. This is a life, it’s a calling,” Dustman said. “You don’t raise your hand and go towards danger when others typically run away without something that is ingrained in your spirit and who you are as a person. And he was that person.”

Allen was married and had two children.

“Today is an absolutely devastating day,” Dustman said.

“He always had a smile. He was the guy that when you go on a call, you knew he was going to be there. He could diffuse things in a moment’s notice. He was right there to back you up.”

Allen is the second Independence officer who was fatally shot in the line of duty in recent years.

Blaize Madrid-Evans, 22, was killed in September 2021.

‘We’re a broken family,” Dustman said. “But as any other family, we will surround each other and lift each other up.”