Days before allegedly killing KC paramedic, woman was arrested for biting cop
The woman charged with fatally stabbing a Kansas City firefighter-paramedic early Sunday had just been released from custody last week after allegedly assaulting a police officer, and had been deemed dangerous before the fatal attack.
Shanetta Bossell was arrested Wednesday and charged in Clay County with second-degree assault, allegedly resisting arrest and biting a Platte City police officer who was off-duty at the time, online court records show. The probable cause affidavit, written Wednesday, described Bossell as dangerous.
“Due to the violent nature of the incident Bossell should be considered a danger to the public,” the affidavit said. In that incident, she allegedly tried to get the officer’s knife and when he went to radio for help, she bit his forearm and wouldn’t let go, records said.
Yet Bossell was able to post a $10,000 bond Friday and was freed.
Less than two days later, officials say she attacked Graham Hoffman, a firefighter-paramedic trying to treat her in an ambulance while en route to the hospital. Kansas City police had initially found her on the side of the highway with a laceration to her hand, which officers said was “bleeding heavily,” prompting the call for emergency medical services.
At this point, no one will say whether police on the scene that night knew about her recent arrest and that she was considered a “danger to the public” when she was loaded into an ambulance to be transported to the hospital.
It was soon into that ride that a police spokesperson said Bossell “produced an edged weapon” and stabbed Hoffman, 29, who was working an overtime shift, in the chest, piercing his heart. It is not clear where the knife came from.
Michael Hopkins, a Kansas City Fire Department Battalion Chief, said to his knowledge Bossell was not combative with police during the initial contact. And whether police knew her name and ran it for prior history, that would be a question for law enforcement, Hopkins said.
“Someone’s criminal background or any outstanding charges or anything on any patient we run, we would not have access to that,” Hopkins said. “They’re doing their due diligence and investigation and all of that really doesn’t involve the fire department.”
When asked whether police at the scene in the early hours Sunday morning ran Bossell’s name or if they knew about the recent charges for resisting arrest where she allegedly bit a Platte City officer, Officer Alayna Gonzalez said those questions “would be part of the ongoing investigation and not publicly available.”
Bossell is again in police custody. This time she’s charged with first-degree murder and three other criminal counts, to which she pled not guilty Monday afternoon via video conference in a Clay County courtroom.
Her bond is now $1 million.
The police call days earlier
Charging records provide details on what allegedly happened during Bossell’s run-in with police last week.
A Platte City police officer who had just gotten home from work, and was still in uniform, noticed a woman “pulling on his personal vehicle door handles”, trying to get into his vehicle and others, a court affidavit said. The officer “confronted Bossell and asked her what she was doing.”
“Bossell ignored him and started to walk toward his front door,” the affidavit said. “He announced he was the police and for Bossell to show her hands to him.”
She ignored him, the document said, and “continued to his front door. He grabbed Bossell by the arm and she began to resist.”
At one point, the off-duty officer said he took her to the ground and “got on top of her, trying to detain her,” the affidavit said.
“Bossell continued to resist and grabbed his handcuffs from his vest and then observed his knife on his vest and tried to grab it several times.”
The officer told investigators he was able to keep the woman from grabbing his knife and then tried to get on his radio to call for help when “Bossell took advantage of the situation and bit him on his left forearm,” the affidavit said. “Bossell refused to let go.”
The bite was so hard that the officer told Kansas City investigators that he feared if he yanked his arm free, “it would possibly rip a chunk of his arm out.”
When Kansas City police responded to the “assist the officer” call they found the two near the officer’s front door.
“Officers assisted (the officer) in taking Bossell into custody,” the affidavit said. The officer said “several times” that he needed medical attention for his arm where he was bitten.
‘Stabbed me in the heart’
The initial 911 call early Sunday came just after 12:30 a.m. Police were called to “check the welfare” of a woman walking the highway near 152 Highway and North Oak Trafficway, said Gonzalez, with Kansas City police.
“Callers were concerned for her safety and called police,” Gonzalez said. “Ultimately, they requested EMS to respond for further treatment.”
Hopkins said it was his understanding that police offered “to get her assistance, to get her home.” And she didn’t want that.
“Then with the laceration,” Hopkins said, “(police) wanted to have her go to the hospital and have that checked out.”
An online court record detailing the new charges against Bossell in relation to Hoffman’s death, stated that fire department paramedics spoke with her and determined “she was not trying to harm herself and she did not want to go the hospital.”
“Officers advised Bossell they would give her a ride to her residence and Bossell refused to go with officers,” the affidavit said. She then agreed to go to the hospital in the ambulance.
The affidavit showed that an officer told KCFD paramedics that he would follow them to the hospital.
They didn’t get very far down the road before the driver of the ambulance heard a commotion in the back.
“He heard his partner hollering for help,” Hopkins said, “so he immediately notified dispatch and initiated the crew emergency.”
The driver then stopped the ambulance at 152 Highway and Platte Purchase and signaled to the police officer that had been following the ambulance for help.
At one point, after the driver opened the ambulance doors, Hoffman said “She stabbed me in the heart,” the affidavit said.
The officer that was following the ambulance later told detectives that when the driver opened the back doors of the ambulance, he observed a struggle between the paramedic in the back (Hoffman) and the woman being transported. The officer then ran to help Hoffman.
As he was running to the ambulance, the officer heard, “She has a knife,” the affidavit said. It isn’t clear from the redacted document who yelled that.
The officer then saw the woman jump into the front of the cab and into the driver seat, trying to put the ambulance in drive. But she was unable to, the affidavit said.
Opening the passenger door, the officer attempted to grab Bossell by her legs. But she slipped out of his grip and got out of the cab, the affidavit said.
Eventually, after she got back into the cab of the ambulance, the officer was able to get her to the ground where she “immediately began to bite down hard on his arm.”
Bossell’s first court hearing was Monday afternoon. As her criminal case begins, the Kansas City Fire Department grieves the loss of Hoffman, who had been with the department three years.
Fund set up for family
In a release Sunday evening, Kansas City Fire Chief Ross Grundyson said Hoffman was a “vibrant individual who loved life and loved serving his community.”
“The Kansas City Fire Department grieves with Graham’s family, friends, and loved ones,” Grundyson said. “This is a senseless act that has taken a great young man from his family, friends, and coworkers, and deprived our city of a dedicated firefighter, and a leader on and off the job who only wanted to serve and protect those in his community.
“The coming days, months and years will be difficult ones as we prepare to say goodbye to Firefighter Hoffman and process this devastating loss.”
A fund has been created for Hoffman’s family. All donations “will go directly to supporting Graham’s loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” a post for the fund said.
“Graham made the ultimate sacrifice doing the job we are all called to do — responding to those in need, no matter the risk,” the post said. “This is a devastating blow to his family, his KCFD colleagues, and the entire fire service brotherhood.
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“As firefighters, we understand the dangers faced on every shift. We know the bond and the promise to look out for one another. Now is the time to honor that promise for Graham. His family is facing an unimaginable loss, and they need our support.”
Hopkins said the department runs medical calls like the one early Sunday “every day, multiple times a day.”
“I know from our end, it was a routine call, “ Hopkins said. “Nothing out of the ordinary, at least to start.
“Obviously it didn’t end that way.”
The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton and PJ Green contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM.
