Man charged with shooting at Missouri police officers said ‘Kill me’, documents show
A Missouri man who shot at and injured two Peculiar police officers Saturday night was hoping police would kill him, according to charging documents.
Matthew Good, 29, of Clinton, was charged Wednesday with unlawful use of a weapon, which is a felony, and two counts of fourth degree assault, which are misdemeanors, court records show. His bond was set at $7,500 cash.
Two officers with the Peculiar Police Department were dispatched about 8:30 p.m. to the Peculiar RV Park on Southeast Outer Road after police received a call about a man armed with a shotgun, according to a probable cause statement filed Wednesday.
The officers arrived to find Good walking in the grass near Southeast Outer Road just south of South Hedgewood Hills Road, Maj. Kevin Tieman, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said in an email early Sunday morning.
The officers told Good, who was still armed, to drop the weapon, which was loaded with birdshot, according to the probable cause statement.
Instead, Good fired one shot, court records show. One of the officers shot back. Good dropped to a knee for a moment, then got up and began walking again as the officers continued telling him to drop the gun.
Good then fired another shot at the officers, court records show. Shotgun pellets struck one officer in the lip and calf. The other officer was struck in the arms with birdshot. Then Good kept walking.
Each officer received minor injuries, Tieman said at the time. Both officers were released from the hospital within a couple hours.
‘Kill me’
Other police agencies showed up to assist the two officers, including the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas City Police Department.
A detective with Cass County called Good and asked how she could help him, court records show.
“Kill me,” he responded.
Good told the detective that he’d just been charged with driving while intoxicated for the third time and didn’t want to go to prison, according to the probable cause statement.
“The defendant said he was done with his life and he only wanted to be killed by police and he ended the call,” the statement read.
After Good hung up, the detective texted him, asking him to talk.
“I did,” court records show he texted back. “Kill me.”
Good later told the detective he decided to walk up the road toward a Casey’s gas station with a gun because he wanted police to see him and kill him.
When the two officers arrived, Good said he first shot into the ground, hoping they would shoot back, court records show. The second time he said he shot in their direction, but wasn’t trying to hurt them.
Good was taken into custody around 10:30 p.m.
“I shot at the cops hoping they would shoot me back,” he later told a detective, according to the probable cause statement.
No attorney was listed for Good as of Thursday morning.
‘I just pray they’re all OK’
Dan Vest, 72, said he heard one or two loud bangs Saturday night as he babysat his grandson at his home off SE Outer Road. His dog immediately reacted to the noise.
“That dog come unglued and bounced off the door,” said Vest, who lives near where the incident unfolded Saturday.
Vest, who spoke with The Star the morning after the shooting, wondered if the neighbor across the highway, who had just gotten married, was shooting off fireworks. And, he said, gunshots aren’t uncommon in the area. Some of his neighbors like to shoot recreationally.
But then a friend of his from Phoenix who used to live nearby called.
“Hey there’s trouble right by your house,” Vest’s friend said.
Vest immediately ushered everyone, including his year-and-a-half-old grandson, into the back bedroom, where they waited out the commotion.
“Once I found out there was somebody out there, my main deal was stay in the house and stay protected,” he said.
“I’m glad that nobody was hurt bad,” he said. “But they’ll never be the same mentally, I can tell you that.”
“I just pray that they’re all OK,” he added.
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.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
