Family wants video after Lenexa police kill man. ‘He was the golden child’
The family of Jose Enrique Cartagena Chacon, who was shot and killed by Lenexa police more than a week ago, say they need to know what happened and why.
They want to see body camera footage from that Sunday morning and requested more information about what led to the shooting outside a Lenexa apartment complex.
“We need answers,” said one relative, who didn’t want to be named in this story for fear of retaliation. “We want to see the video. … They’re not telling us anything.”
Chacon, 25, who was known by many as Enrique, lived with relatives in Grandview. Police knocked on the family’s door around 7 a.m. June 22 to tell them that Chacon had been shot.
Few details have been provided to the public about the shooting. The only information at this point was in an initial news release from the Lenexa Police Department shortly after Chacon’s death.
Around 3 a.m. June 22, police were called to the Lenexa Crossing Apartment Homes, in the 12400 block of West 97th Terrace, to a report of a disturbance involving someone with a gun, according to that news release.
Once officers arrived at the complex, the release said, they located an individual inside a parked vehicle near the pool/clubhouse area.
“During the encounter with that individual, at least one Lenexa officer discharged their firearm, striking the individual,” the release said. “The individual was transported by Johnson County Med-Act to a nearby hospital and was later pronounced deceased.”
Since the shooting, two Lenexa police officers have been on paid administrative leave, which is standard, said Officer Danny Chavez, a police spokesman.
The shooting is being investigated by the Johnson County Officer Involved Critical Incident Investigative Team, with the Olathe Police Department serving as the “host agency.” Calling the team in to conduct an independent investigation after a police shooting is standard procedure.
Chacon’s family, both here and in El Salvador where his mother lives, are devastated, the relative said.
“He was so very loved,” the relative told The Star. “He was just a great uncle. He always had a smile on his face. … He was special.”
Police shooting investigated in Lenexa
The family picked up Chacon’s car from police last week. The battery of the four-door Passat was dead and both front windows were down, the relative said.
The back driver’s side window had been shot out, and plastic covered the hole. Photos seen online show the driver’s side window is rolled down and the back window is covered in plastic.
Lenexa police posted information about the shooting on its Facebook page last week. That post has nearly 300 comments, many from people who knew Chacon and shared their pleas for more information.
“We want justice for our friend,” one woman wrote. “He didn’t deserve this. Show his family the evidence on why you had to kill him, he was still young.”
Added another: “He was a kind-hearted, humble, and amazing friend. His memory deserves justice. #JusticeForEnrique”
Yet another said that “us family and friends, we want Justice for our boy.”
“What happened has no explanation, he was such a good friend, co-worker, good family, good human,” the post said. “We are still waiting for videos, evidence and nothing yet.
“We hope Enrique rest in peace.”
Lenexa Police Chief Dawn Layman “has been in regular contact with representatives of Mr. Chacon’s family,” said Chavez, a police spokesperson. This included an in-person meeting late last week, he said.
“It was explained to those representatives how the OICIIT process works and that it typically takes numerous weeks (if not months) for that independent body to conclude their investigation and the DA to give a ruling,” Chavez said.
At the end of officer-involved shooting investigations, prosecutors review the case and decide whether to file charges.
“At the time of the meeting with those family members, they were understanding of this process. I know that Mr. Chacon has a large family and that this is a very difficult time for them, understandably.
“I also understand that some family members may have different feelings amongst themselves about this process, but I will reiterate that we’ve been in regular contact with multiple representatives.”
Jose Enrique Cartagena Chacon
Chacon was known as a hard worker, employed in construction. He’d work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday, his relative said.
“He would take Sundays off,” he said. “He would go visit all the sisters, you know, make the rounds. … He was the golden child. He was the best. No comparing nobody to him.”
The young man many called Enrique came to the Kansas City area 10 years ago on a work visa, his relative said. Four years later, in 2019, that visa was extended for another 10 years.
He would send money home to his mother and help out family members when they needed it, the relative said. When a sister’s car broke down, she didn’t have the $1,300 for the repair.
“He fixed it for her free of charge,” the relative said. “He said, you know what, pass it on to the next brother or sister or whoever in the family needs it.”
Now, the large tight-knit family is grieving and waiting to learn more about what happened in the early morning hours more than a week ago.
“I just want to see the video,” the relative said. “And we will not stop asking.”
In Kansas, body camera footage is considered a criminal investigation record. Under state law, that classification gives police departments or other public officials like district attorneys broad discretion in deciding whether the recordings get released or stay shielded from public view, even after a case is closed.
The law does allow families of individuals fatally shot by police to view the footage.
“We need accountability from those that are supposed to protect and serve,” the relative said.
