High-speed police chase into Kansas City led to fatal shooting of burglary suspect
An Independence police officer shot and killed a man in Kansas City Tuesday night after a car chase across the city border at speeds up to 92 mph, according to a recording of police radio traffic.
The alleged offense the officer responded to before the seven-mile pursuit and the shooting, police said Wednesday, was a commercial burglary.
The shooting, which is under investigation by the Kansas City Police Department, comes after years in which Independence police chases, sometimes at high speeds, have crossed into Kansas City and caused the deaths of multiple people, including innocent bystanders. Independence police have also chased suspects into Kansas City and neighboring Sugar Creek and shot them.
Since the 1990s, many law enforcement agencies around the country, including in Kansas City, have restricted dangerous car chases to situations where a violent felony or a threat to public safety is in play.
Independence police have not made that change, keeping a policy that largely allows officers to pursue whenever they see fit. For Independence police, that may mean a traffic infraction or a property crime such as a stolen auto.
The chase Tuesday night ended near Ninth Street and Monroe Avenue, according to Kansas City police, where the burglary suspect allegedly fled from his car and the Independence officer shot him. Kansas City police have said a firearm was found at the scene but provided few other details.
Asked to comment on the shooting, Independence police spokesman Officer John Syme referred all questions to the Kansas City Police Department.
“Since KCPD is handling the investigation of the shooting, they are also handling the media inquiries,” Syme said.
Kansas City police did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Independence elected officials, including the mayor and city council members, did not respond to a request for comment.
The incident that ended in the police shooting Tuesday night began shortly before 10 p.m. when the officer, who has not been identified by police, responded to a burglary in progress at a business in the 900 block of South Crysler Avenue in Independence.
The burglary suspect fled in a silver and burgundy Pontiac Grand Prix and eventually found his way to U.S. 24. He then fled west on U.S. 24 highway in Independence and across Independence Avenue in Kansas City, according to the recording from Broadcastify.com.
As the chase progressed, officers reported the fleeing car hit high speeds: 85 mph as it passed through South Arlington Street in Independence; 70 mph at South Brookside Avenue in Independence; 92 mph at Manchester Avenue in Kansas City and 90 mph at Bennington Avenue, also in Kansas City.
Officers reported that traffic was light and yielding, according to the recording.
During the chase, Independence officers asked for assistance from Kansas City police and Jackson County sheriff’s deputies, to see if they could use spike strips to deflate the car’s tires.
“If Kansas City or county can stick it, we’ll take assistance,” an Independence officer said.
A Kansas City police supervisor inquired whether the department’s helicopter was available to follow the pursuit. The helicopter, however was not available.
At Monroe, the car headed south. It then turned west onto Ninth Street.
Moments later, an officer advised “shots fired.” An Independence officer shot and killed the fleeing man.
“We are going to have a confirmed (fatality) here,” an officer advised over the radio. “We are doing CPR, but I do believe it is going to be confirmed at this time.”
Previous incidents
Last year, The Star reviewed police chase crashes in the Kansas City area since 2014 and found at least six innocent bystanders had been killed and others have been grievously injured.
Independence paid more than $767,000 to settle lawsuits from a high-speed crash along 23rd Street in 2014, when a speeding driver fleeing an Independence police pursuit crossed into Kansas City and crashed into another car, killing a man and injuring two passengers.
Four years later, a high-speed police chase along the same route ended in a crash that killed four and injured four others. The chase was started for a suspected stolen car.
On other occasions too, Independence police have chased people into Kansas City, or nearby Sugar Creek, and shot them.
In February 2016, Independence police tried to pull over 47-year-old Harless Scott, and when he fled they chased him at speeds reaching 90 mph. That chase led into Kansas City, where an officer shot and killed Scott. Police said he pointed a gun at them.
In January 2017, Independence and Sugar Creek police officers tried to pull over 22-year-old Dakota Lukecart for an expired tag. When Lukecart did not stop, police pursued him to a dead-end street in Sugar Creek.
When Lukecart turned the car around and accelerated toward the police, officers fired shots at the vehicle, killing him.
In February 2020, Lukecart’s mother sued the officers involved.
Prosecutors declined to file charges in both shootings.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 6:01 PM.
