Did Kansas City police shoot a pregnant woman? We need some substance, not cop speak
Did two Kansas City police officers shoot an unarmed pregnant woman?
I have questions and you should, too.
On Friday, two KCPD officers fired their service weapon at a woman who told officers she was pregnant, according to an eyewitness. The woman was struck multiple times. Media outlets identified her as 26-year-old Leonna Hale but police haven’t said whom officers shot.
A gun was recovered at the scene, law enforcement officials said.
Investigators haven’t made clear if the injured woman possessed a weapon — an important detail that needs immediate clarity.
The woman wasn’t a threat to anyone, an eyewitness told me. She was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The woman was with a man sitting in a vehicle reported stolen during an armed carjacking Friday evening in Kansas City, Kansas, law enforcement officials said.
Were the two even suspects in the alleged car theft? On Monday, no one was in police custody for the alleged crime, according to a spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the incident.
Kansas City police have not identified the officers involved. Why are their names important?
In recent years, multiple officers with the department have used deadly or excessive force in the line of duty. Some are repeat offenders and still have their jobs.
The public has a right to know which cops use force and how often.
Justifiable or not, each encounter between an officer and a citizen that ends in violence should face scrutiny and public accountability.
Interim Police Chief Joseph Mabin showed up to the scene of the shooting. He spoke briefly to the media but didn’t offer much in terms of details, deferring inquiries to the Highway Patrol.
“We’re committed to being 100% transparent and fully cooperate with the Highway Patrol,” Mabin said late Friday evening, shortly after the woman was shot in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store near Sixth Street and Prospect Avenue.
He walked off without taking questions.
Is that how you’re going to play the lead role, Chief Mabin?
Kansas Citians shouldn’t be left in the dark about basic details of the shooting. If the woman was pregnant, tell us. If so, what’s the condition of the woman’s unborn child? Did she have a weapon? Were body-worn cameras activated? Did dashboard camera footage capture portions of the encounter?
Providing the public with pertinent information in a timely manner is good policing and would not jeopardize the investigation.
Nobody is asking Mabin to condemn the rank-and-file officers under his watch. A level of openness with the public is good policy.
Lip service about transparency means absolutely nothing without updating the public about what occurred at Family Dollar.
“We never want to be in these type of situations,” Mabin told reporters. “Not the public, as a police department. Anytime it happens is a blight on our community. I want to ensure the public the scene is secure. There’s no ongoing threat. … This is a holiday weekend. It’s time for friends, not a time for violence.”
No one was violent in the parking lot that night except the police. Did a reasonable threat exist to begin with?
Mother of three witnessed the shooting
The woman police shot was struck multiple times, according to Shé Danja, a 29-year-old mother of three who witnessed the shooting.
For safety reasons, Shé Danja didn’t want to give her last name. Who could blame her?
Police ordered her to leave the Family Dollar property without taking a statement from her. By Sunday, investigators hadn’t spoken with Shé Danja about what she saw, she told me.
Police officers dismissed her immediately after the incident, according to video footage I watched.
She also spoke to a Star reporter about the shooting.
Videos from Shé Danja’s Facebook account show the moments after the woman was shot. The footage was shared widely on social media.
The woman’s apparent injuries were not a pretty sight.
The woman tried to elude police after officers attempted to apprehend her and the man she was with, law enforcement officials said.
Later, officers observed the vehicle at the Family Dollar. When police approached, the man hopped a fence and ran according to the witness I spoke with.
The man was caught and transported to a hospital for observation. He was not shot, a spokesperson for the Highway Patrol said.
The woman got out of the car with her hands up, the witness recalled. A gun was in the vehicle, the woman told officers, according to the witness, who recorded the aftermath of the shooting.
Police ordered the woman to the ground but she told them that she couldn’t because she was pregnant, the witness said.
With guns drawn on her, the woman inched backwards to a fence on the property, the witness said. She tried to elude officers by climbing the fence but failed, the witness said.
She was then shot. Two KCPD officers fired at her, investigators said.
The injured woman was handcuffed while sprawled on the pavement. More than three minutes passed before aid was rendered to the woman, Shé Danja said.
Mabin is new to the top cop role. He took over temporarily after former Police Chief Rick Smith retired in April.
If Mabin is trying to repair the agency’s relationship with the public that Smith seemed to thumb his nose at, canned statements and vague talking points about transparency won’t work.
When officers under your command shoot a woman under questionable circumstances, we need more substance and less cop speak, Chief.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
