Woman shot by KC police not pregnant, local reverend says, contradicting witness statement
The 26-year-old woman shot and seriously injured by Kansas City police on Friday is not pregnant, according to a local faith leader who said he is working with her family.
Leonna Hale was shot and seriously injured by two officers in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store near Sixth Street and Prospect Ave.
A witness said she heard Hale tell police she was pregnant moments before she was shot.
“She is not, in fact, pregnant,” Rev. Timothy Hayes, pastor of the 24-hour Faith Training Center in Kansas City, said Thursday.
Hale’s shooting sparked outrage and national attention after a witness filmed the aftermath of the shooting and said police had shot an unarmed pregnant woman.
Hale was taken to a local hospital after the shooting. Her medical condition remained stable as of Wednesday.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a statement Wednesday that a review of the police body camera videos showed that Hale “continually displayed a weapon during her encounter with police officers” before she was shot.
The prosecutor’s office also released an image showing Hale with what appeared to be a firearm in her right hand.
She was charged with unlawful firearm possession, exhibiting a firearm and resisting arrest.
On Thursday, Hale’s mother, along with civil rights activists including Hayes called on authorities to release the videos from the shooting.
