Video shows moments leading up to deadly KCK police shooting of former KCK detective

KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) - For months there had been questions about the accounts given by police soon after the November, 2021 shooting death of former KCK Police Detective Lionel Womack.

They described body camera footage they said showed Womack grab one of the officer’s guns and another officer shoot him after he pointed the gun at the first officer. But they said they would not release that footage while the investigation into the shooting was active.

Last month, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced the investigation had concluded and he would not be seeking any charges against the officers.

Police this week provided six video clips following an open records request from KCTV5. The six clips show both the body camera, dash camera and planographic dash camera video of each of the two officers as they were driving up to the stranded motorist call continuing through several seconds after the shooting.

The department concealed the faces of the officers and Womack and concealed his body just after the shooting, but it might still be unsettling for some to watch, particularly the moment when he falls to the ground after being shot.

Womack worked as a police officer for the department, was promoted to detective then later fired from the department in 2020. Police said one of the two officers on the call knew Womack from his time on the department.

“This is a dangerous job, and when we put on the uniform, we accept that,” KCK Police Chief Karl Oakman said on Thursday. “But I think what we don’t anticipate is a situation where you have to use force on the fellow officer that you actually worked with and knew. The members on the police department, I mean, they really cared about Mr. Womack, so when you add all that together, it’s really not a good situation, no matter how it ends.”

The videos show the following:

As their patrol cars arrived at North 57th Street and Tauromee Avenue at approximately 2:30 p.m., a man can be seen in the distance with his hands in the air. Six seconds later, his hands are balled into fists as he charges and tries to get in the passenger door of the closes patrol car.

The first officer, standing by the driver’s side door, can be heard saying, “Lionel, Lionel.”

The second officer, approaching the passenger door, says, “Hey, hey, hey. Relax, relax.”

Womack runs around the front of the patrol car, gets into the patrol car on the driver’s side and shuts the door. Both officers pulled the doors open.

Some relatives last year had told other news publications Womack was afraid of his fellow officers. On Thursday, KCTV5 asked Oakman why the officers forced the doors open if it was possible Womack was trying to get to a safe place out of fear.

“What we have to understand, unfortunately, Mr. Womack was a trained police officer,” Oakman explained. “He know what kind of weapons we keep in that vehicle. We do keep weapons in our vehicle. You know, whether it’s a shotgun or a patrol rifle, he knew that was in the vehicle.”

Womack can next be seen getting out of the driver’s side door and reaching for the first officer’s gun, which he had in his hands, held by both hands. He can be seen wrestling the gun from the officer’s hands and falling to the ground with the gun in his hand. In a moment that last approximately one second, he can be seen pointing the gun up at the first officer while on the ground and continuing to do so as he begins to get up.

The second officer can then be seen pointing his gun at Womack, followed by the sound of three gunshots. Freeze at 1:14) Here’s that moment on *that officer’s body camera. (Back to playing vid) Womack falls back with the gun in his hand.

Switch to the *second officer’s body camera and you can see him *point the gun at the first officer, while on the ground, then standing up, followed by three shots.

The officer can be heard panting to catch his breath.

The first officer asks, “You okay buddy?”

The second officer responds, “Yeah, I’m good. I think I got hit in the toe.”

The first officer radios dispatch then says to the second officer, “You saved my life.”

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