Video shows fatal encounter between Overland Park officer Mike Mosher and suspect
Three months after an Overland Park police officer and a hit-and-run suspect shot and killed one another in an altercation at 123rd and Mackey, the Johnson County District Attorney said the officer’s use of force was justified.
At a news conference Thursday, District Attorney Steve Howe showed a portion of a video that Officer Mike Mosher recorded on his personal cellphone when he confronted 38-year-old Phillip Michael Carney about a possible hit-and-run.
Mosher had pursued Carney after witnessing the hit-and-run on his way into work on May 3. He was in his personal car and did not yet have a body camera with him. According to dispatch audio, Carney exited his car and approached Mosher as the confrontation led to a shootout that killed both men.
The video, Howe said, was discovered during the investigation and confirmed what witnesses had told police.
The footage shows Mosher asking Carney to return to his car rather than speak in the middle of the street. During a short exchange Carney refused to return to his car and expressed his distrust of police.
As Mosher calls for additional units to respond to the scene, Carney can be seen pulling out a gun and Mosher attempt to push his arm down. Mosher’s phone falls to the ground and several gunshots are heard.
A report summarizing the case released by Howe’s office says Mosher was “suddenly attacked ... and had a right to defend himself.”
A toxicology report later showed that Carney had several prescription drugs as well as “cocaine degradation product” in his system when he died.
Howe pointed to Mosher’s “calm demeanor” as an example of the way good officers operate in Johnson County. He said the video showed that “in the blink of an eye something that looks like a normal situation can turn to a life-and-death situation.”
“This is what we deal with every day and things can go bad so quickly,” said Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez at the news conference.
“He did everything right and it still wasn’t good enough.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
