‘Ready to shoot no matter what’: Family sues Independence, officers over police shooting

A federal lawsuit has been filed against two Independence police officers and the City of Independence in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Tyrea Pryor, attorneys of the family announced at a Thursday press conference.

The attorneys contend the officers should have never fired their weapons at Pryor the night of March 11, 2022, and displayed reckless, excessive use of force by doing so. The city is also being sued since the officers are considered employees of Independence. But the family’s legal team say they will amend the complaint if documents reveal that the city has also been negligent in overseeing the Independence Police Department.

Pryor’s family stood beside their attorneys with sullen faces at the Justice and Dignity Center on The Paseo as they discussed the lawsuit, which asks for $25 million in damages.

Nigel Johnson, the uncle of Pryor’s teenage son, said he believes their lawsuit has the power to bring about change for other families.

“Our faith in the system is being challenged,” he said. “We don’t want this to happen to anyone else. We want justice for our loved ones ... These children shouldn’t have to grow up without a father.”

One of the family’s attorneys, Arimeta Dupree, said the family has yet to receive condolences from the department.

Another attorney, John Burris, said change has to start with the acknowledgment that something wrong was done. Burris argued there was no clear reason for the officers to use force on Pryor the night he was killed.

“No one had called and said a man had a gun and threatened them,” Burris said. “There had been a crash ... There was no threatening activity.”

In the legal team’s claim, the attorneys said Soule and Officer Jamie Welsh “breached their duty by shooting and killing Tyrea even though he posed no threat.”

According to Burris, the high number of shots fired suggests, “they were ready to shoot no matter what.”

“What we’re looking for now is to vindicate a family’s civil rights here.”

Burden of proof

It all started one March night more than a year ago when Officer Hunter Soule was called to 803 East College Street on reports that a man, Tyrea Pryor, and two women were pounding on the door of a 911 caller. They had reportedly gone to the residence to get items another woman wanted returned.

As Soule set off his sirens, the three jumped into a white vehicle and sped off. He witnessed Pryor grab an unknown item from the back of the vehicle before taking off, according to interviews with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. After a short pursuit, the officer stopped following Pryor.

Officers were later called to a crash involving Pryor’s vehicle. Video footage released by attorneys for Pryor family shows the aftermath of the crash: One officer shouted “Gun!” and police proceeded to fire their weapons. Pryor was shot 15 times.

According to investigative interviews, a silver assault-style rifle was inside the vehicle, but had already been secured by an officer. Another officer revealed that a pill bottle in Pryor’s pants may have been mistaken for a a handgun.

Attorneys of Pryor’s family claimed “Soule and Welsh fired their service weapons in a disabled vehicle, mutilating a severely injured, incapacitated, unarmed and trapped Tyrea,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday.

The lawsuit also accused Soules and another officer, Jamie Welsh, of placing Pryor as well as other members of the public in serious danger and acting in “bad faith.” They allege Pryor was “deprived of his constitutional rights” and his family is owed financial compensation due to the resulting medical expenses and loss of the 39-year-old’s future earnings.

The decision to file a civil lawsuit in federal court came after Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker refused to pursue the case, citing the “reasonable belief” that a threat was being posed to police, according to her March statement.

But the family’s attorneys said Thursday they’re not concerned about Baker’s assessment. Attorney John Burris explained the prosecutor has a very different burden of proof.

Since Burris and his legal team are filing as a civil lawsuit, they do not need to convince a jury their claim is true without any reasonable doubt. Instead, they simply need to prove their claims are more likely true than not.

Attorney Harry Daniels, also representing the family, agreed.

He said the officers decision to stop after a short pursuit of Pryor’s vehicle following the first 911 call suggests the 39-year-old did not pose an “imminent threat.”

While Pryor did have a silver assault-style weapon in his vehicle, which officers discovered while responding to the car crash, Daniels argued it did not serve as a reason for officers to use force.

“He had a Second Amendment right to have a gun, a gun itself is not a reason why you should be killed.”

Use of force

Police department data obtained by The Star through an open records request shows significant racial disparities in police use of force in Independence. Last year, 30.7% of the people the department used force on were Black. The city is 9.6% Black, according to the U.S. Census.

The records outlined 163 cases that ended with force, including Pryor’s shooting. A Taser was used in nearly 42% of the encounters; while physical strikes, pepper spray and a bean bag round were also deployed.

When it came to certain tactics, like the neck restraint known as an LVNR, the racial disparity increased even more, to 38%.

Gwen Grant, president of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said the data was alarming, but not surprising.

“These numbers substantiate the need for extensive reform in policing practices in Independence, including accountability for officers who racially profile and use excessive or deadly force,” Grant said.

“Implicit bias training alone will not solve these problems. These officers need to learn about the deeply rooted systemic issues... they need to unlearn the myths and misconceptions that result in their lack of respect and appreciation for the humanity of Black people.”

Police Chief Adam Dustman said every instance is reviewed and evaluated by multiple people and noted there were more than 6,800 arrests last year with only 2% resulting in use of force.

On the LVNR cases, Dustman said all but two began when a citizen called police for help. Of the eight involving a person of color, only one was an Independence resident.

“Many of the locations associated with an incident are on our main corridors into and out of Independence,” he said. “These incidents often involve a mix of residents and nonresidents, which makes the application of the Independence census information misleading as a comparison.”

Attorneys for the Pryor family said they are aware of the data, and plan on further exploring how department policies may have contributed to Pryor’s death.

The Star’s Katie Moore contributed to this story.