On Friday, Oct. 27, just before 3 p.m., a man entered the Barton County Sheriff’s Office administrative offices at 1416 Kansas Ave. in Great Bend carrying a rifle, Sheriff Brian Bellendir reports.

“Evidently the suspect was angry because sheriff’s deputies had served him a ‘protection from abuse order’ earlier in the day,” Bellendir said. The suspect, Lee Shelton Leon, age 28, of Great Bend, allegedly threatened Sheriff’s Office personnel and appeared to be extremely agitated. Undersheriff Steve Billinger disarmed him and with the assistance of Lieut. David Paden and Great Bend Police Department Detective Jefferson Davis, Leon was subdued and arrested.

“There were no injuries to the suspect or sheriff’s personnel because of this incident. The weapon was later determined to be an air rifle.” 

Leon was booked into the Barton County Jail on requested charges of aggravated assault of law enforcement officer, aggravated assault (civilian personnel) as well as other charges. He’s being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

The sheriff’s office provided a security camera photo and a book-in photo from a previous arrest on Saturday, noting Leon had not been cooperative with jail staff and the booking process had not been completed at that time.