Police kill homicide suspect they say fired at them near Kansas City downtown loop
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating after Kansas City police officers fatally shot a homicide suspect Friday afternoon in an exchange of gunfire following a felony traffic stop just east of downtown, a highway patrol spokesman said.
The shooting occurred about 12:30 p.m. near Admiral Boulevard and Tracy Avenue, when officers pulled over a vehicle with the suspect inside, said Sgt. Andy Bell, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Troop A.
Because it was a felony stop, multiple officers and police cars were involved, Bell said.
Bell said he didn’t know how long the officers had been pursuing the suspect. They pulled over the man along with a driver and several others at Admiral Boulevard and Tracy Avenue.
The driver and several others complied with orders to exit the vehicle, Bell said. The suspect remained inside the car and refused to comply with officers demands to exit the vehicle.
The officers saw a handgun and the man started firing the weapon, missing the officers but striking a police car, Bell said. Four officers returned fire, striking the gunman.
Officers rendered first aid until emergency medical workers arrived and rushed him to a hospital, where he later died, Bell said.
The Missouri Highway Patrol later identified the man as 26-year-old Ennice Ross Jr.
The officers involved the shooting will be placed on routine administrative leave, which is normal in a police shooting, said Sgt. Jacob Becchina, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department.
This is the sixth shooting by Kansas City police officers that the highway patrol has investigated since June, Bell said. Three of those shootings, including the one on Friday, have been fatal.
Bell said Troop A, whose offices are located in Lee’s Summit, is responsible for 13 counties in Missouri that also included Kansas City. The agency has added more detectives to the unit tasked with investigating fatal law enforcement shootings.
“We have the personnel to to staff these types of incidents,” he said. “So as far as resources getting spread thin, at times, your demand is a lot.
“But I don’t think that we’re spread thin to where it’s counterproductive. I think we’re still accomplishing our mission and providing the assistance that we need to provide to these agencies.”
The man’s death was the 160th homicide in Kansas City this year, according to data kept by The Kansas City Star, which includes police shootings. It was the eighth fatal law enforcement shooting in Kansas City this year and sixth fatal shooting by Kansas City police officers, according to The Star’s data.
Paul Rosales, 52, said the shooting occurred just outside his apartment building.
“I was on the phone with my aunt in Vegas and all of a sudden I heard rapid shots, between 10 to 15 rounds,” Rosales said. “It was so close, it sounded like it was in the hallway.”
Rosales said he waited inside the building for a few minutes before he went outside to see what had happened.
“There’s no glass left in the car...,” Rosales said. “There were so many bullet holes.”
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.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 2:18 PM.
