KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two Kansas City police officers are on paid administrative leave after shooting and killing a man early Thursday morning.
Police say Fritz Leandre, 19, of Kansas City, pulled a gun on officers after he crashed his car during a chase near 31st Street and Charlotte.
Sgt. Tony Sanders says officers saw the man driving erratically northbound on Troost Avenue around 12:45 a.m.
The two officers, in a southbound vehicle on Troost, turned around and attempted to pull the man’s vehicle over.
The man turned onto 31st Street, picked up speed and wrapped his car around a pole near the corner of 31st and Charlotte, Sanders said.
The officers stopped and were getting out of their cars when the man opened his car door and stood up.
The man allegedly had a gun and was pointing it at officers. That is when Sanders says the officers drew their weapons and fired, killing the suspect.
"My understanding from the officers is they never got a chance to talk to the driver,” Sanders said. “It was one of those things where he crashed into the pole, they were going to render first aid and that's when he got out of the car."
The amount of time the officers spend on administrative leave is not certain. A department psychologist will have to clear the officers before they return to work.
Investigators say they are looking into the possibility that the man killed had something to do with the murder of a man inside a Kansas City apartment a few minutes before the crash.
Sanders says a
man was shot and killed at 811 E. Armour Boulevard and the man killed by police was coming from that area when the chase began. Authorities have not said whether or not the two incidents are related.
If you have any information that could help police in either of these incidents, call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
