One person fatally shot by Kansas City police Sunday night near 55th and Prospect Avenue
Update: The Missouri State Highway Patrol has identified the man killed in the shooting as Zachary James Garrard, 31.
A person was shot and killed by police Sunday night on Kansas City’s East Side.
The shooting occurred in the area of 55th and Prospect Avenue, according to Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department.
The shooting was reported at about 9:45 p.m., Sgt. Bill Lowe, a Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman, told reporters at the scene. The highway patrol is investigating the shooting.
Kansas City police initially identified a stolen SUV in the parking lot of the Phillips 66 on Prospect Avenue, Lowe said. The officers went to check the vehicle while the person who had been in the SUV was in the gas station mart.
When the individual who had been in the stolen vehicle came out of the mart, the officers were still in the gas station parking lot. Both officers were in uniform and standing outside the van when the individual came out of the mart and got into the vehicle, Lowe said.
“He came out, he then got in the vehicle, proceeded to back up and when he turned around, he turned around and sped directly towards one of the officers that was outside his vehicle,” Lowe said. “At that point in time the officer dove out of the way and the suspect vehicle struck the van, the Kansas City Police Department van. At that time, that’s when the shots were fired.”
The person shot by police was declared dead at the hospital, Lowe said, declining to provide any information on the person, including their gender, age and name, until family was notified.
Video from the gas station and police body camera footage is being reviewed by the highway patrol, Lowe said, adding that authorities are also interviewing witnesses, including children who were present at the time of the shooting.
No information was immediately available on how many officers fired their weapons or how many times they fired their weapons.
One person who said he was in the area at the time of the shooting said he heard about 16 shots. Another man told The Star he heard “a lot” of gunshots.
Interim Police Chief Joseph Mabin and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker were among those gathered at the scene well into the early hours of Monday.
“I just want to ensure the community that we are committed to 100% cooperation with the highway patrol,” Mabin said during a brief news conference.
This was the third fatal police shooting involving Kansas City police this year.
This story was originally published August 7, 2022 at 11:05 PM.
