Monday, Nov. 02, 2009
FBI team investigates parking lot shooting
By GRACE HOBSON
The Kansas City Star
Print
E-Mail
AIM
ReprintThe FBI on Monday defended its shooting of a man in a public parking lot in Olathe Sunday evening.
A task force of local police and the FBI was trying to execute an arrest warrant in the parking lot of a Subway restaurant at 151st Street and Ridgeview Road about 7:15 p.m. when the man pulled up a weapon and aimed at police, said FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton.
A shootout ensued, and an FBI agent shot the man, who suffered several gunshot wounds. He was in serious but stable condition Monday, Patton said. The man was wanted in Johnson County for aggravated assault.
“We try to take every precaution to keep the public safe during the course of an investigation and during the occurrence of an arrest,” Patton said. “The members of this task force train continually and do this on a continual basis. It’s not something we plan to do at a public place, nor would we try to put the public at risk.”
Members of the FBI’s shooting team arrived Monday in Olathe from Washington, D.C., and began investigating the shooting, as is standard whenever an agent shoots someone, Patton said.
The Violent Crimes Safe Streets Task Force, with officers from Kansas City; Kansas City, Kan.; Lenexa; Overland Park; and the FBI had been investigating the man for the past month. They learned of his whereabouts Sunday, Patton said.
A van with the officers followed the man into the Subway parking lot. The officers got out of their van and drew their weapons to arrest the man, who was already out of his car, Patton said.
The man aimed a weapon at police, instigating the shooting, Patton said. It is not yet known who fired first, Patton said.
Jackson Miller, the manager of a Pizza Shoppe restaurant near the Subway, questioned why police made the arrest in the parking lot near open businesses. His restaurant had more than 100 people inside, he said.
“People could have been injured,” said Miller, who was working Sunday night when the shooting occurred.
He questioned whether the man’s aggravated assault charges merited the task force’s treatment.
“In a neighborhood setting, to use that much force when so many people are around, I would hope it’s for something worth that kind of force,” Miller said.