Kansas City police fatally shoot suspect who shot officer in leg, highway patrol says
Police fatally shot a man inside a south Kansas City gas station while attempting to arrest him. The man had shot an officer in the leg during the incident, Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
Around 6 p.m. Thursday, officers with the Kansas City Police Department’s Impact Unit were looking for a person in an aggravated assault investigation, which is ongoing, when they identified the suspect at the gas station near East 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue. Two officers went inside the gas station and tried to arrest him when “a fight, a struggle ensued,” Sgt. Andy Bell, spokesman with the highway patrol, said.
The man drew a handgun and shot one of the other officers in the leg as an additional two officers had arrived on the scene to help with the arrest. The officer who was shot returned fire, fatally shooting the man, Bell said.
“The officer in self defense returned fire,” Bell said.
The victim was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The officer was being treated for his injuries and Bell said he was in stable condition.
Since June of 2020, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has been the lead investigative agency for use-of-force cases where civilians are injured or killed by officers in the line of duty. The change came in response to calls for the Kansas City Police Department not to investigate its own officers after several high-profile deaths of civilians while in police custody or while being sought by officers.
The police shooting drew an immediate reaction from members of the community. Among them was Anton Washington, minister of social affairs with Kansas City’s Revolutionary Black Panther Party chapter.
Washington said they received a call from a witness saying that a Black man was killed. Police also confirmed the race and gender of the victim, but did not release a name.
“My heart just plummeted,” Washington said. “And we’re asking for the end of police brutality first and foremost.”
Washington noted that the shooting took place in a predominantly Black neighborhood, where tensions between law enforcement and the Black community remain high.
“No matter what the circumstances may be, I’m saying we are we are calling for a ceasefire,” Washington said. “We’re calling for the end of police brutality with the KCPD.”
The victim’s death marks the 40th killing in Kansas City this year. Last year, Kansas City suffered the highest number of homicides in the city’s history, recording 182. The Kansas City Star includes fatal police shootings in this list.
Gun violence is the subject of a 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 March 25, 2021 at 7:42 PM.
CORRECTION: Sgt. Andy Bell spoke for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
