Radio traffic gives details of police shooting that killed suspect and Fairway officer
A police chase that started because of a suspected stolen vehicle that allegedly rammed a patrol car quickly escalated into a shooting Sunday morning that killed one of the suspects and injured a Fairway officer, recordings of law enforcement radio traffic show.
Shortly after the suspects had crashed or abandoned the suspected stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee and fled into a QuikTrip near Interstate 35 and Lamar Avenue in Mission, a call came over the radio that an officer was down.
“Lenexa has an assist now,” a dispatcher advised. “They have shots fired.”
Word that an officer had been shot prompted other Johnson County agencies to send officers to assist those already at the scene, as captured by audio from Broadcastify.com, an online source of police radio recordings.
The officer, later identified as 29-year-old Jonah Oswald, died at a local hospital Monday night. Oswald, a husband and father of two young children, was a four-year veteran of the Fairway Police Department.
Fairway Chief of Police J.P. Thurlo said in a statement Monday night that he was “heartbroken at the tragic loss,” saying Oswald “made the ultimate sacrifice while carrying out his oath to serve and protect.”
Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, of Ashland City, Tennessee was also killed in the shooting, police said.
Meanwhile, Andrea Rene Cothran, 32, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, was charged Tuesday morning in Johnson County District Court with three felonies, including one count each of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and theft. She also faces a charge of reckless driving, a misdemeanor.
She made her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
The audio from Broadcastify gives a partial look into what led up to the fatal shooting. The audio, however, does not include radio traffic from Lenexa officers during the chase. The feed that usually records the regional communication channel that law enforcement agencies in the Kansas City area switch to during chases was offline Sunday.
The audio, however, captured radio traffic between Johnson County dispatchers and police supervisors.
Radio traffic gives details of chase
Officers responded around 7:30 a.m. to a gas station and convenience store in Lenexa to investigate reports of a stolen vehicle, Chavez said Sunday.
“Information for all units on a J-7 (auto theft) that just occurred in Lenexa at the QuikTrip around 95 and I-35,” a dispatcher said. “Vehicle taken was a navy Jeep Grand Cherokee.”
The dispatcher relayed the vehicle’s license plate.
“It should have a dog inside the vehicle,” the dispatcher said. “It was last seen on 9-5.”
About five minutes later, chatter on the police radio asked dispatchers if they knew what Lenexa police were chasing. A dispatcher advised that it was the Jeep stolen from QuikTrip.
The Jeep also allegedly rammed a Lenexa police car.
“To all units, it looks like Lenexa is in pursuit northbound I-35 from 95th, aggravated assault on L-E-O (law enforcement officer),” a dispatcher advised at 7:45 a.m.
Other dispatchers advised officers in their cities as the chase continued north on I-35, passing 87th Street and eventually Antioch Road.
A dispatcher then told officers that the vehicle possibly crashed on the exit at Lamar and I-35.
“We are getting a call from the QuikTrip,” the dispatcher said. “It’s a black SUV wrecking out at the exit. Subjects ran from the vehicle. A heavy set white female and a white male in biker’s vests.”
Other officers told dispatchers that they would respond to the area to help set up a perimeter.
“Subjects might possibly be inside the QuikTrip according to Lenexa’s notes,” the dispatcher said.
Police respond to shooting
Soon after, a dispatcher advised that shots had been fired. There was an officer down.
Another dispatcher advised that officers at the scene were requesting an officer with a ballistic shield to respond.
“Suspect is in a bathroom there at the QuikTrip,” a dispatcher advised. “They are not detained and not down. They are requesting a shield.”
The suspect was armed, the dispatcher advised.
At one point, an apparent police supervisor told a dispatcher that if the suspect was contained in the bathroom, he would tell the officers to contain the area and call a critical incident response team.
The dispatcher replied that Lenexa police were in command.
Eventually, staging emergency medical crews were told to go ahead and proceed to QuikTrip to pick up the patient.
“They have moved the patient outside the building, the exterior is secure,” the dispatcher said.
Shortly thereafter, dispatchers advised that Lenexa police had said the suspect was dead.
The Star’s Andrea Klick and Anna Spoerre contributed information to this story.
This story was originally published August 7, 2023 at 2:51 PM.
