Sheriff’s office names suspect shot and killed after Panasonic plant stabbing
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the suspect allegedly involved in the stabbing at the Panasonic plant Friday in De Soto, who was then shot and killed by responding deputies.
Jonathan Lunceford, 55, of Blue Springs was identified as the man who allegedly stabbed a person at the plant and was killed by deputies on the scene, according to a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office news release.
Deputies responded to a report of a stabbing at the facility at 10301 Astra Parkway just before 11a.m., which ended in the shooting with deputies, Sheriff Byron Roberson told a group of reporters at the facility Friday.
Deputies found one victim with multiple stab wounds when they arrived on scene. Responding officers then shot the suspect, later identified as Lunceford, Roberson said.
Deputies attempted to save Lunceford, Roberson said, but paramedics eventually pronounced him dead at 11:25 a.m. The stabbing victim was in critical condition at a local hospital at that time, he said. There is no updated word on the victim’s condition as of Sunday morning.
No deputies or officers were injured in the incident. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is also assisting in the investigation, Roberson said.
No information has been provided to what led to the stabbing, but according to Roberson, the plant was evacuated at one point.
A former employee who worked at the Panasonic until mid-November told a Star reporter he had received an emergency alert text notification from Panasonic at 12:07 p.m.
“I got an alert from their system that said there was an active shooting and to take cover, and to wait for further news to get out of the building,” said the former employee, who asked not to be named so he could share information without getting his friends who still work at the plant in trouble.
Construction of the plant, which just opened in mid-July, began in 2022 on 300 acres in the small city located in western Johnson County. The $4 billion project was expected to create thousands of jobs for the area.
Incentives from state, county and local governments to bring the project into De Soto totaled more than $1 billion, including an $829 million incentive package from the state and $200 million in local property tax breaks from De Soto.
Previous reporting from The Star’s Nathan Pilling, Kendrick Calfee, Matt Kelly and PJ Green was used in this article.
