KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Three people are charged in connection with a Wednesday afternoon shooting in Kansas City, Kansas, that injured five police officers.
Cornell Lance Jones, Jr., Samarion Ardel England, and Jaeveon Mitchell-Locke are each charged with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer.
The suspects, ages 18, 19, and 21 respectively, are also charged with:
- Three counts of aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer
- Three counts of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building/vehicle
- Three counts of aggravated endangerment of a child
- One count of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer
- One count of distribution of fentanyl
The shooting took place in the parking lot of a convenience store near North 18th Street and Wood Avenue around 3 p.m. Wednesday. Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Karl Oakman said a narcotics and tactical unit was following up on an investigation into a fentanyl deal at the time. They were in an undercover operation to buy more fentanyl when the deal didn’t go through.
Two of the injured police officers were released from hospitals Wednesday evening. A third officer remains hospitalized.
“Hopefully, they will be released today or the next day,” Oakman said during a press conference Thursday.
“We thank God that all of them are still alive and well today,” Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said during that same news conference.
Chief Oakman said two other officers were injured by shrapnel during the shooting and received treatment Thursday morning.
“For the last few years the Kansas City police department has worked diligently and corroboratively with multiple agencies to rid our streets of drugs, specifically the drug of fentanyl,” Mark Dupree, Wyandotte County District Attorney, said. Not only the drug of fentanyl, but those who dare to deal fentanyl in our community. In 2023 alone, by this point, the Kansas City Kansas Police Department had collected over 127,000 fentanyl pills and over 24 pounds of powder.”
Regardless of Wednesday’s incident, Dupree wants the community to still reach out to KCK Police when they believe someone’s trying to sell fentanyl, so that officers can save more lives.
“As these officers did upon yesterday with recovering nearly 500 to 1,000 fentanyl pills knowing at each pill is a life that could have been lost to death,” he continued.
The three adults accused of shooting the officers are now in custody. Dupree said there were multiple people inside the convenience store, three of which were teenagers at the time of the shooting.
Wednesday’s gunfire went into the convenience store, but nobody was hurt there.
The FBI, DEA, ATF and U.S. Marshals are helping with investigations involving fentanyl in Kansas City, Kansas, according to Chief Oakman.
