Police officer injured in shooting during a traffic stop in North Kansas City
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North Kansas City cop dies in traffic stop shooting
The police officer shot during a traffic stop Tuesday in North Kansas City has died. The officer was identified as Daniel Vasquez, who had been on the force for two years, North Kansas City Police Chief Kevin Freeman said during a news conference. Clay County Prosecutor Dan White charged Joshua T. Rocha, 24, Wednesday with one count each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Vasquez.
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Update: The officer killed in the shooting in North Kansas City has died, the police chief said Tuesday. That story is posted here.
A North Kansas City police officer was seriously injured during traffic stop Tuesday when the driver of a vehicle opened fire, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Police are looking for an early 2000s gray Ford Taurus with the Missouri temporary license tag 03GU43, according to law enforcement officials.
The temporary tag was expired and belonged to a Buick, said Clay County Sheriff Will Akin during an afternoon press conference.
The officer pulled the car over near 21st Avenue and Clay Street in North Kansas City, according to radio traffic captured by Broadcastify.
Moments later, an emergency alert tone came across police radios.
“We have an officer down, 21 and Clay, 21 and Clay” the dispatcher said.
Other officers can be heard on radio traffic responding to the area.
“We got a gray Taurus westbound on 21st,” the dispatcher said.
The driver got out of the vehicle and began firing upon the officer, according to the Blue Alert. The driver was last seen traveling west from 21st and Clay Street.
The suspect was described as a white man with brown hair. He was thought to be armed with an unknown firearm, the patrol said.
Officers escorted the ambulance from the scene of the shooting to a hospital.
Shortly thereafter, dispatchers put out description on the car.
“Standby for information on a shooting suspect from North K ansas City,” the dispatcher said. “Information on a shooting suspect from North Kansas City: Westbound 21st from 21st and Clay around 10:40. It is a gray Ford Taurus with unknown temp tag expired in 2018. Occupied by a white male, brown hair.”
Law enforcement officials circulated a “blue alert” with the description of the suspect car. The alert is issued when a law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.
A woman who lives in the neighborhood and did not want to be named in this story said she was walking home from a nearby pharmacy when she heard a police car turn on its siren and pull someone over.
She then heard two “pop” sounds that she took to be gunshots, she said.
The woman said she was lived on nearby Swift Street for 13 years and gun violence was uncommon there, especially with the North Kansas City Police Department only a half-mile away.
This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 11:26 AM.
