On a Sunday morning in July 2022, a verbal altercation on the Kickapoo Reservation in southern Brown County, Kansas, turned deadly, leaving one man dead and another facing a first-degree murder charge. William "Willie" Allen Blacksmith, a 35-year-old man from Whiting, was fatally shot on July 17, 2022. The incident prompted a response from several law enforcement agencies after the Brown County Sheriff's Office was notified of a possible shooting at approximately 7:20 a.m.
Upon their arrival at the scene located at 1300 Firefly Rd., officers found Blacksmith unresponsive with several gunshot wounds. An investigation by the Brown County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Brown County Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was launched into the circumstances surrounding the shooting. According to statements from witnesses, Blacksmith had been involved in a "verbal altercation" with another man and had told him to leave the area. It was at this point that the other individual allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot Blacksmith multiple times before fleeing the scene.
Shortly after the shooting, a suspect was identified and located. Stryder Keo, a 32-year-old from Horton, was arrested "without incident" at his home on the reservation. Keo was subsequently booked into the Brown County Jail in Hiawatha. He has since been charged with murder in the first degree and aggravated battery. A judge set his bond at $1 million.
