No charges will be filed in fatal KCK shooting involving U.S. marshals

No criminal charges will be filed against the deputy U.S. marshals involved in a fatal shooting this summer on Interstate 35 in Kansas City, Kan.

Two deputy marshals shot at Patrick Pippin, 30, of Shawnee, on July 16 after he led police on a chase from Gladstone to the southbound lanes of the interstate near the 18th Street exit.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerry Gorman ruled that the marshals did not violate Kansas law and were justified in their use of deadly force.

Gorman made his ruling after reviewing evidence obtained during an investigation by the FBI and Kansas City, Kan., police.

According to a letter explaining Gorman’s decision, the incident began as police and federal agents prepared to serve a search warrant at a house as part of an investigation into a series of armed robberies.

As agents watched the house, a Jeep Cherokee arrived and its driver parked near the house. Two people got out. Authorities believed the two entered the house being watched. About 30 minutes later, they walked back to the Jeep and began to drive away.

The agents believed the driver looked like the target of the investigation, who had a violent history and was known to be armed, so they decided to stop the vehicle. They later determined that Pippin was the driver and was not the person they were seeking.

A marked Gladstone patrol vehicle turned on its lights and siren and attempted to stop the Jeep, but the driver kept going. Two marshals in unmarked service vehicles using lights and sirens then took up the pursuit, which continued into Kansas.

As the Jeep neared the 18th Street exit, one marshal clipped the rear of the Jeep and caused it to crash into the interstate’s center barrier wall.

The marshals reported that Pippin had started to get out of the vehicle with what appeared to be a gun in his hand. When the Jeep struck the wall, Pippin fell to the ground. He then picked up what appeared to be a gun and began running toward one marshal.

One marshal fired multiple times. Pippin fell to the ground. Another marshal, who could not see Pippin’s hands and didn’t know if he still had a weapon, fired another shot as Pippin started to roll over.

Pippin died as a result of four gunshots, according to the letter. It was not known if a bullet struck him while he was on the ground.

According to Gorman’s letter, cellphone video taken by a motorist as well as dashcam video from a Kansas City police car “clearly shows Patrick Pippin exiting the Cherokee with a handgun. After he dropped the handgun, he picked it up and began to run in the direction” of the deputy marshal.

Pippin’s mother, Lura Patton, previously has said her son had visited a house next to the one authorities were targeting to sell a cellphone. She said he fled because he was on parole, didn’t have a valid driver’s license and there was a gun in the vehicle.

On Thursday, Patton said she was “very frustrated” by the whole process.

She said investigators never contacted her, and she learned of Gorman’s decision earlier this week after requesting a meeting with him.

Patton said her son should not have fled from police, but she still has many questions about the incident.

“I’m going to do whatever I need to do to get justice for him,” she said. “He was a good person and didn’t deserve to die that way.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 2:12 PM with the headline "No charges will be filed in fatal KCK shooting involving U.S. marshals."