Kansas City Police In Hot Water After Shooting Pregnant Woman Running From Carjacking Scene

A witness said a woman had her hands up moments before she was shot multiple times by Kansas City police officers Friday night in a store parking lot. Shédanja, who declined to provide her last name, said the woman was trying to run from officers when they fired at her.

The woman suffered serious injuries.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Friday that police were attempting to arrest a man and woman in connection with a suspected carjacking. A vehicle matching the description of a stolen vehicle was located at the Family Dollar at 6th and Prospect Ave.

Shédanja, 29, said she went to the store with her three children to get gasoline and ice cream.

She heard officers start yelling, “Get out the car,” to two people who were in the vehicle next to hers. A man exited, jumped a fence and ran. Three officers chased after him, she said.

The woman exited the car with her hands up, 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 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,” she said. “She did not even have a stick in her hand.” The woman ran three steps away from officers, Shédanja said, and police shot five times.