Probation likely for gunman

New Year’s Eve defendant was originally charged with 19 felonies and 6 misdemeanors

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A Goessel man charged with taking his family hostage at gunpoint on New Year’s Eve will likely be sentenced to two or three years’ probation in August after reaching a plea agreement Monday.

David Matthew Impson, 41, Goessel, pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and attempted criminal discharge of a firearm. Impson will have a legal duty to register as a violent offender.

He had been charged with 19 felonies and 6 misdemeanors, stemming from a 21/2 -hour alleged hostage crisis New Year’s Eve, in which Impson allegedly held his wife and six children hostage in their home.

Kansas sentencing law takes both the defendant’s criminal history and the severity of the charge into account when determining what sentence a defendant is given. County attorney Joel Ensey said he agreed to recommend Impson’s criminal history score be calculated as having no previous felonies.

One of the children fled the residence at 8:45 p.m. and reported a weapon had been fired inside the home.

Deputies, police officers from Hillsboro and Peabody, and a Harvey County special response team responded to the incident.

Ambulances from Hillsboro, Marion, Tampa, and Florence were positioned near the scene and near Marion and Hillsboro.

Some of Impson’s other children managed to flee the home during the incident and were taken to a command post set up at Goessel High School. This left Impson’s wife and three or four children inside the home when officers arrived.

Allegedly, Impson agreed to surrender after a negotiator spoke with him by phone about 20 minutes.