‘Shots fired!’ Lawrence police repost dramatic video of chase to catch a murderer
The day after Rodney Marshall was convicted last week of murdering two Lawrence men, the city’s police reshared the July 31, 2022, video of the high-speed chase through the college town that led to his capture and arrest.
The 14-minute video from the Lawrence Police Department features the dashcam view of the pursuit through downtown and neighborhood streets — at times reaching speeds of 60 to 70 mph — and involved multiple law enforcement agencies, including a K-9 unit.
It ended outside of town with Marshall — at the time known as “a very dangerous suspect” — face-down in the middle of eastbound K-10.
Marshall shot at law enforcement officers during the chase. “Shots fired!” came the call over the police radio.
Police first made the video public in August 2022.
“... this is the pursuit that ended with the arrest of Rodney Marshall, which ultimately led to his recent conviction,” the department wrote on its Facebook page where the video is posted.
“Officers with LKPD, along with several agency partners, executed the arrest skillfully, strategically, and SAFELY. Investigators worked endless hours to compile the evidence then present it in court.
On May 18 a Douglas County jury found Marshall guilty in the July 2022 murders of two Lawrence men and the attempted murder of law enforcement officers pursuing him.
He was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the back-to-back killings of 52-year-old Shelby McCoy and 43-year-old William O’Brien in Lawrence.
The jury also found him guilty of four counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer.
“This case has had a profound impact on our community, especially the families and loved ones of Shelby McCoy and William O’Brien,” Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis said in a statement after the verdict.
“While no verdict can undo the loss, we hope today’s outcome provides some measure of accountability and closure for those who have carried the weight of this case for nearly four years.”
At a news conference in August 2022, the month after the chase, Lawrence police chief Rich Lockhart called the pursuit “a high energy car chase.”
“Typically when you see these car chases, they don’t look too good at the end,” Lockhart said. “This one looks really good at the end and we used some really unique things to be able to safely capture the suspect and his passenger.”
The chase began about 6:20 a.m. when officers tried to pull Marshall over but he sped off. There were few cars on the streets at that time of morning, but officers blocked intersections in the downtown area to keep the public safe.
At one point, a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper took the lead in the chase, getting behind Marshall to attempt a “tactical vehicle intervention,” or PIT maneuver. But Marshall swerved back and forth to keep the trooper from getting close, then fired shots at the trooper, whose car hit a curb.
Speeds climbed to 100 miles an hour when Marshall reached K-10, where he fired at Eudora police officers who had joined the chase. They were able to use stop sticks to deflate the tires on Marshall’s truck, eventually stopping him
The video shows Marshall apologizing to the officers as they handcuffed him.
“I’m sorry guys,” he said. “It wasn’t personal. It wasn’t personal. It wasn’t about you.”
He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13.
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