Charges: Kansas City man shot another person before leading police on 85 mph chase
A 36-year-old Kansas City man was charged on Friday for allegedly shooting and killing another man at East 27th Street and Chestnut Avenue on Wednesday before leading police on an 85 mph chase.
Eric M. Thomas is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with second degree murder, armed criminal action, possession of a firearm and resisting arrest, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Kansas City police responded to the scene around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday because of a report of gunshots. When they arrived, witnesses directed police to a space between two houses where a man, later identified as Darren Mitchell, was found dead.
According to court records, a witness told police she she saw a man called “E” get out out of a green Pontiac Grand Prix and point a firearm over the car. Though she said she did not see “E” — later confirmed to be Thomas — fire shots she tried to call Mitchell and warn him.
She said she heard several gunshots before “E” turned the gun on her and asked “where’s he at?”
Another witness, prosecutors allege, told police he saw a man get into a green Pontiac and drive south on Chestnut after hearing gunshots.
Police located the suspect’s vehicle at Linwood Boulevard and Tracy Avenue
According to court records, witnesses told police that after they heard gunshots they saw a man getting into a green Pontiac and driving south. The car, police said, fled when officers attempted a traffic stop.
Police chased the driver until a “Tactical Vehicle Intervention technique” stopped the car at 3rd and James Street in Kansas City, Kansas, records said. At points, police said, the chase reached 85 mph.
When police spoke to Thomas at the scene, prosecutors alleged, he said “Somebody shoot at me, I’m shooting back.”
Thomas then told police that he hadn’t been at the crime scene and did not shoot the gun that was found in his car. He denied commenting that he’d acted in self defense, according to court records.
The casings found at the crime scene, prosecutors alleged, were determined, as per a report from the police crime laboratory, to match the gun found in Thomas’ car.
Prosecutors requested that Thomas be held in lieu of a $150,000 bond.
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 and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
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