Police officers in Kansas City reportedly shot a pregnant black woman five times despite having her hands up, according to a witness who posted a video of the incident to social media. Now, the Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating the shooting.
The incident took place after the officers spotted a vehicle at a Family Dollar that was suspected of being stolen, according to local Fox station KCTV5.
Citing witness accounts, The Kansas City Star reported:
“The woman exited the car with her hands up,” a witness named Shédanja said. “Officers told the woman to get on the ground, but the woman told them she was pregnant, Shédanja said, and couldn’t get down on the ground. Police asked her to get down multiple times. The woman then told police there was a gun in the vehicle.”
The paper added: “The woman started backing toward a fence in the parking lot. Several officers approached her and had their weapons drawn, Shédanja said.
“She did not pull out a weapon on them,” Shédanja recalled. “She did not even have a stick in her hand.”
Shédanja, who be heard narrating in a video she recorded at the scene, told The Star that she had seen the shooting and recorded a video of the aftermath.
“They got her in handcuff while they shot her, y’all,” Shédanja says in the video. “I stopped here to get some gas, y’all, and my son just watched this [shooting]. My one-year-old son just watched this! My 10-year-old son just watched this! And my 13-year-old son just watched this happen!”
“She was fixing to cooperate,” she added. “She ran and they shot her. One, two, three, four!”
A spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol told reporters that a gun “was located” at the scene but he would not say if the gunshot victim was holding it.
A witness named Shédanja says Kansas City police shot a Black pregnant woman five times even though she was unarmed and had her hands up. The victim was identified as 26-year-old Leonna Hale. She was in stable condition on Friday, according to KCTV.
Shédanja recorded this video pic.twitter.com/esOQnCRyB4
— David Edwards (@DavidEdwards) May 30, 2022
