Witness: Man yelled ‘shoot me’ during deadly standoff with KC police

A man armed with a firearm yelled “shoot me” multiple times before he was fatally shot by a Kansas City police officer early Friday, according to a neighbor that witnessed the shooting.

Officers were called to the 4300 block of Chestnut Avenue around 8:45 a.m. on a domestic violence disturbance involving a man armed with a gun. While officers were on their way there, the call was updated to report that shots were fired.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers saw a man who matched the suspect description. The man was armed, according to the Kansas City Police Department.

Police said that officers attempted to negotiate with the suspect to drop his weapon.

“In these situations we call in a negotiated response because we want to negotiate with someone who is in crisis situation to try to calm them down to let them know that we have resources that we can offer them to get them help,” Kansas City Police Capt. Stacey Graves said, according to a KSHB-Channel 41 video.

After about 20 minutes, the suspect pointed his gun at officers, and officers shot him.

A man who lives close to the home of the dead man’s girlfriend said the suspect held the gun to his own head in a threatening manner before he turned the weapon on police.

The neighbor did not want to be identified.

“He yelled, ‘Shoot me, shoot me,’ ” the neighbor said. “And then they shot him.”

Officers “immediately rendered life-sustaining aid,” police said. The man was taken to a hospital where he died.

The neighbor said police fired at least three rounds from a high-powered rifle that struck and killed the man.

“They worked on him, but he was (dead) pretty quick,” the neighbor said.

The initial call to police reportedly involved the man and a woman with whom he had a domestic relationship. The neighbor said the man and woman had two young sons.

The reported shooting was confirmed through ShotSpotter.

This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Witness: Man yelled ‘shoot me’ during deadly standoff with KC police."