North Kansas City officer was shot pulling driver over for temporary tag, sheriff says
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North Kansas City cop dies in traffic stop shooting
The police officer shot during a traffic stop Tuesday in North Kansas City has died. The officer was identified as Daniel Vasquez, who had been on the force for two years, North Kansas City Police Chief Kevin Freeman said during a news conference. Clay County Prosecutor Dan White charged Joshua T. Rocha, 24, Wednesday with one count each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Vasquez.
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Update: The officer shot in North Kansas City has died, the police chief said Tuesday. That story is posted here.
A North Kansas City police officer was seriously injured during traffic stop Tuesday when the driver of a vehicle opened fire, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Officials think the officer tried to pull the driver over for having an expired temporary tag, Clay County Sheriff Will Akin said at a news conference Tuesday near the scene of the shooting.
Akin said the officer was taken to a hospital by ambulance and transported to University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas. Akin said he assumed the officer had life-threatening injuries.
Law enforcement officials said they were looking for an early 2000s gray Ford Taurus with the Missouri temporary license tag 03GU43. The expired tag belonged to a Buick, said Clay County Sheriff Will Akin during an afternoon press conference.
The officer pulled the car over about 10:40 a.m. near 21st Avenue and Clay Street in North Kansas City. The driver got out of the vehicle and began firing upon the officer. The driver was last seen traveling west from 21st and Clay Street.
The suspect was described as a white man with brown hair. He was thought to be armed with an unknown firearm, the patrol said.
The highway patrol circulated a “blue alert” with a description of the suspect car. The alert is issued when a law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.
Akin said officials assume the traffic stop was because of the expired temp tags, but as the situation develops information will continue to change.
At the news conference Tuesday afternoon, Akin said the suspect still hasn’t been found, but officials don’t believe he poses an immediate threat to the North Kansas City area.
A woman who lives in the neighborhood and did not want to be named in this story said she was walking home from a nearby pharmacy when she heard a police car turn on its siren and pull someone over.
She then heard two “pop” sounds that she took to be gunshots, she said.
The woman said she was lived on nearby Swift Street for 13 years and gun violence was uncommon there, especially with the North Kansas City Police Department only a half-mile away.
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 12:41 PM.
