Police justified in killing suspect who fatally shot Johnson County officer, DA says

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe has determined that police acted lawfully in killing a suspect who had mortally wounded a 29-year-old officer during an attempted arrest in a QuikTrip bathroom four months ago in Mission.

The slain police officer, Jonah Oswald, was shot in the head while trying to force open a bathroom stall occupied by Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, according to an analysis and summary report released by the district attorney’s office Monday afternoon.

Several other officers backed out of the bathroom and one fired toward Marshall as he remained behind the door armed with a gun, the report says. Marshall was then fatally shot by a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper who was “trapped” in an adjoining bathroom stall.

“It is the determination of the District Attorney that the two officers’ use of force was justified under Kansas law,” the report says. “Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed against either officer.”

The legal analysis and summary of events released Monday were based on a review of body-worn cameras and the police investigation led by the Officer Involved Critical Incident Investigation Team, a group of detectives from area agencies tasked with reviewing deadly use-of-force cases.

In making the public announcement Monday, the district attorney’s office said no questions related to its findings would be answered while a criminal case against a second suspect — 33-year-old Andrea Cothran, who is charged with first-degree felony murder in Oswald’s shooting — remains pending.

The deadly encounter unfolded Aug. 6 inside the QuikTrip convenience store bathroom at 4700 Lamar Ave. in Mission as police were tracking two suspected automobile thieves.

Around 7:30 a.m., the owner of a Jeep Grand Cherokee called 911 to report his vehicle was stolen after he went inside a different QuikTrip in Lenexa and left the engine running. He went outside to see it being driven away.

The stolen Jeep was spotted and pursued by Lenexa police while the driver, identified by authorities as Marshall, stopped at a hotel and picked up Cothran, the report says. Cothran took over as driver and allegedly rammed a police vehicle before fleeing the area.

There was a high-speed police chase on Interstate 35 that reached up to 120 mph, according to the report. The Kansas Highway Patrol joined the pursuit.

Police lost sight of the Jeep but soon found it wrecked at an exit ramp at Lamar Avenue, a short distance from the QuikTrip in Mission.

One officer went inside the convenience store and saw Cothran and Marshall heading for the bathrooms. She went into the women’s bathroom, where Cothran was arrested and taken into the hallway, and told other officers a second suspect was in the men’s bathroom.

Marshall at one point showed his hands to an officer in the hallway but refused commands to come out of the stall, the district attorney’s report says.

A decision was made by the police officers to enter the men’s room to make an arrest. It was not known to police that Marshall was armed, the report says.

Oswald, of the Fairway Police Department, entered the bathroom along with the other officers, led by Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Derek Kyser.

Officers threatened to use a Taser unless Marshall surrendered peacefully. Kyser unsuccessfully tried to kick in the stall door and moved over to the disabled accessible stall next to it.

Oswald put his body against the stall’s door as it partially opened. A pistol held by Marshall was extended through the opening, the report says, as Marshall fired a single shot that struck Oswald.

After Oswald fell and other officers — except for Kyser — retreated to cover in the hallway.

Mission Police Officer Tanner Eddings opened the bathroom door and exchanged gunfire with Marshall from the hallway, the report says.

Kyser, believing Marshall was ready to kill him and “any officer who came into the bathroom,” reached over the top of the stall and fired at Marshall two or three times, the report says.

Afterward, the report says, the trooper looked over to see Marshall standing, gun in hand, and fired another volley of bullets.

Marshall, of Ashland City, Tennessee, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Oswald was removed from the bathroom as police officers began providing medical aid. He died in the hospital the following day.

Physical evidence analyzed at the Johnson County Crime Lab matched the fingerprints and DNA collected from the stolen Jeep to Cothran and Marshall, the report says.

Also analyzed were shell casings and the handgun discovered near Marshall’s body after the shootout. Two of the spent shell casings came from that gun, which was later found to have been reported stolen in Tennessee, the report says.

An autopsy of Marshall determined he died of multiple gunshot wounds. Two bullets recovered from his body were matched to the highway patrol trooper’s gun, the report says.

During interviews with investigators in the following days, Kyser and Eddings reported fearing for their lives and the lives of others for the use of deadly force against Marshall.

State law allows for the use of deadly force in situations where a police officer reasonably believes a person poses a threat of “death or great bodily harm to themselves or others.”

Oswald’s death in the line of duty was met with sorrow by fellow officers across Johnson County. Police Chief J.P. Thurlo has described Oswald as an intelligent, compassionate and dedicated police officer for Fairway, where he spent four years on the small police force. Oswald was also a husband and a father of two young children.

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Cothran, who faces four felony charges stemming from the theft of the vehicle and Oswald’s killing, remains held in the Johnson County jail on a $1 million bond. She is due to appear in court for a preliminary hearing March 25.