New video shows struggle, fatal police shooting of Malcolm Johnson in Kansas City
New video obtained by The Star shows more of the events surrounding the March 25 fatal police shooting of Malcolm Johnson inside a Kansas City gas station.
In the minute-long video, five police officers can be seen struggling with Johnson, 31, before others arrive at the gas station convenience store in the 6200 block of South Prospect Avenue.
The encounter caused items to fall off of nearby shelves as two men, who appeared to be store employees, talked about what they were witnessing. Police have said officers were there to arrest Johnson in connection to a previous shooting.
“Oh, is that our normal customer?” one asks the other, later calling him family. “They have a gun.”
One of the men said an officer was “about to take out her strap.” Three gunshots could then be heard. It is unclear from the video, however, who fired the shots.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the shooting, has said Johnson drew a handgun and opened fire at officers. A bullet struck the leg of one of the officers, who immediately returned gunfire, killing Johnson, the patrol said.
After the shooting Johnson was taken to Research Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker released a written statement saying her office received videos from witnesses and community members to review.
Baker said her office would determine if there were any discrepancies between the original account of the shooting and the actual evidence, including any video evidence.
“Our job requires us to gather as many facts as we can and to use those facts to determine if charges are appropriate under Missouri law,” Baker said. “In order to do that, a full and neutral investigation is necessary. Our duty requires we hold all accountable, no matter their position or power.”
“We are also evaluating our processes to determine how we might further engage with community to gain these necessary facts,” she said.
Sgt. Andrew Bell, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol, said the agency received a video from the faith leaders Thursday morning but declined to comment on it while the investigation remains open.
Pastors speak out
On Tuesday, a group of faith leaders in Kansas City released separate video footage of incident, though it did not show the shooting. They said that footage showed an “execution” and contradicted the timeline and description of the events given by the patrol.
One of the pastors, the Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III of St. James United Methodist Church, said all officers should be fired and criminally charged.
The Rev. Darron Edwards, of United Believers Community Church, said pastors believe in police and want every Kansas City ZIP code to be safe.
But, he said, they don’t believe in “policing like this.”
Another video released Tuesday did not capture the shooting but showed two uniformed officers with their handguns drawn approach a man dressed in a hooded jacket standing in front of the check out window inside the gas station.
The officers appear to grab the man, who managed to break free briefly. The man tried to run out of the gas station but the officers pulled him back inside. A struggle ensued.
The man, who activists identified as Johnson, tumbled on to the floor with the police officers, knocking over food items stocked on nearby shelves.
The camera angle only shows the man’s feet as he continues to struggle with the officers. The man and the officers stay mostly out of camera angle for about 80 seconds before showing what appears to be an officer who is wounded in the leg being rushed outside by a sergeant and two other officers.
Edwards on Thursday renewed calls for the removal of Police Chief Rick Smith. He also called for the passing of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
“There’s too much hurt from the bottom up and we need help from the top down,” he said.
In response to the pastors’ concerns, the patrol defended its ongoing investigation.
Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, did not comment on the video and in an email referred all questions to the highway patrol.
Community concerns
Several community activists said the contents of the video released Thursday were disheartening.
The video shows several officers collapse onto Johnson as he tries to break free. The officers force him onto the gas station floor. One officer places his knee on Johnson’s ankle to prevent him from moving.
An officer and a sergeant rush inside to help subdue the man. The sergeant quickly leaves the store and retrieves a stun gun.
Three shots are heard as the officers continue to struggle with the man.
“Stay on him! Stay on him!” an officer is heard yelling.
“Did they kill him?” a witness is overheard saying.
“This is bad bro. He didn’t do nothing. He shot the police.”
As the man laid motionless on the floor, the sergeant yelled to the witnesses, “We need a rag now!”
The video then shuts off.
“This is sad,” said Sheryl Ferguson, an organizer with It’s Time 4 Justice. “But being in the Black community, it’s amazing how much we’re expected to endure. And the very people that we should be able to call for help are executing us, executing us for their own mistakes.”
General Indigenous Xi, a leader of the Revolutionary Black Panther Party-KCMO, said members of the group were on the scene of the shooting shortly after it was reported. The group immediately questioned the statement by the highway patrol about how the shooting occurred.
“And that video proves that this wasn’t the entire story,” Xi said. “They went in there (the gas station) with an objective. They went in there with their minds made up that this man was a criminal, and that they were going to be his judge, jury and executioner and that’s what the video showed.”
Several activists said they were especially troubled that the video shows the officers, who appeared not be wearing body cameras, rush into the gas station with their weapons drawn. Police leaders had previously said all uniformed officers would be issued body cameras.
“These videos are emblematic of the incompetence and ineptitude of the KCPD under the leadership of Chief Rick Smith, and the Board of Police Commissioners’ failure to hold Smith accountable,” said Gwen Grant, president/CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City. “The board’s dereliction of duties substantiates our call for Smith’s removal and local control of the KCPD.”
The shooting Johnson was being arrested in occurred March 15 in the 9700 block of East 43rd Street, according to police. A bullet grazed the foot of a man at a home there.
In 2016, Johnson was mistakenly released from the Jackson County Detention Center while facing charges in a murder case. The next year, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 11:11 AM.
