No charges in Leavenworth police shooting; officer fired in self-defense: County Attorney
No criminal charges will be filed in the fatal police shooting of 44-year-old Iowa man in early January in Leavenworth, the Leavenworth County attorney announced Tuesday.
After reviewing audio, video and written reports of the Jan. 6 shooting, County Attorney Todd Thompson said in a news release that he determined the officers acted in self-defense.
“Sadly, this appears to be a case of suicide by a cop,” Thompson said.
Suicide by cop is a method in which an individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner with the intention to provoke an lethal response by an officer.
In a letter to Leavenworth Police Chief Patrick Kitchens dated Tuesday, Thompson outlined the summary of the investigation into the shooting of Mills by Officer Sarah Howard.
Shortly before 9 p.m. on Jan. 6., the Leavenworth Police Department received a call from a person, later determined to be Micheal L. Mills of Indianola, Iowa, saying he would like to report a murder and that he had a gun and a knife, according to Thompson’s letter.
Howard was dispatched to the 400 block of North Fifth Street in Leavenworth, and Officer Brittany Swanbeck responded as backup. The officers, who were in uniform, were in marked patrol cars with their lights activated.
Upon arrival, the officer contacted Mills in the front yard of a home, and Swanbeck saw Mills was holding a knife. Both officers told Mills to put up his hands and drop the knife, according to the letter.
Mills ignored multiple commands to drop the knife and ran toward Howard. Howard commanded Mills to drop it, which caused him to stop momentarily, Thompson said in the letter. He was within 20 feet of Howard and appeared to reach into his pocket.
Mills allegedly then charged again, saying, “Pull the trigger.”
Howard shot three time times from her service pistol, and Mills fell to the ground.
While they handcuffed Mills, he repeatedly told the officers, “Thank you,” according to the the letter.
Mills died about 10 p.m. from gunshot wounds despite receiving immediate medical assistance, Thompson wrote in the letter.
From the time of Howard being dispatched to the 400 block of North Fifth Street (8:59 p.m.) to the time she shot Mills (9:03 p.m.), four minutes had elapsed.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation investigated the police shooting and completed it’s report on Jan. 10. In his legal analysis of the shooting, Thompson found that the shots fired by Howard were not criminal conduct under Kansas law.
“There is ample evidence to indicate that it was reasonable for Officer Howard to believe that deadly force was necessary to protect herself from death or great bodily harm,” Thompson wrote.
“When Mr. Mills stopped and reached into his pocket a very short distance away from Officer Howard, she had every reason to believe Mr. Mills was reaching for a gun,” Thompson wrote. “As Mills continue to approach, Officer Howard had a threat of harm from either the knife or gun.”
