Topeka police acted justifiably June 24 in fatally shooting man who had knife, D.A. says

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay has ruled that Topeka police acted justifiably June 24 when they fatally shot Christopher Kelley as he charged at them with a knife.

Kelley, a 38-year-old Black man who struggled with mental health issues, cut himself several times with the knife before charging with it at three Topeka officers, who each shot him, said Topeka Police Chief Bryan Wheeles.

An autopsy showed Kelley had methamphetamine and marijuana in his system, Kagay said.

The names of the officers have not been made public. They will not be subject to criminal prosecution, Kagay said.

He said he has met with Kelley’s family and notified them of his decision.

The circumstances involved were tragic for the family and friends of Mr. Kelley, for the officers involved and their families and for this community as a whole, Kagay said.

What did Kelley do to cause police to shoot?

Kagay said police were called about 9 a.m. June 24 to the area of S.E. 4th and Holliday, on a report that a person was trespassing on BNSF Railroad property and had threatened a BNSF employee with a knife.

The employee subsequently told officers that Kelly had thrown rocks at him, come at him with a knife, then started cutting himself with the knife before police arrived, Kagay said.

"Officers set up a perimeter around Kelley to keep him from entering a nearby residential neighborhood," he said. "For roughly an hour they attempted to negotiate with Kelley to gain his compliance and get him to relinquish the knife."

Kagay did not respond, Kagay said.

"On multiple occasions officers attempted to gain compliance with 'less lethal' tools available to them, including the use of 'super sock' (bean bag) rounds as well as 40mm impact rounds (foam/rubber projectiles)," he said. "Those methods had no impact on Kelley and he continued to disobey commands and on occasion continued inflicting injuries to himself with the knife."

About 10 a.m., Kelley began screaming and charged with the knife extended over his head at the officers, who fatally shot him, Kagay said.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation investigated circumstances of Kelley's death, then forwarded a report to Kagay's office.

What did the DA take into account?

In reviewing such incidents, Kagay said, his responsibility is to determine if the actions of the law enforcement officers were reasonable.

Kansas law says an officer is justified in using deadly force only if the officer reasonably believes that such deadly force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to that officer or someone else, Kagay said.

If the actions were not reasonable, then the the district attorney must decide if the actions rose to the level of criminal conduct that can be prosecuted, he said.

In determining reasonableness, the DA must consider the severity of the crime being investigated, whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to the safety of officers or others and whether the suspect was actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight, Kagay said.

He said he analyzed the circumstances involved and concluded that in Kelley's situation, the officers' actions were justified.

Even before officers arrived, he said, there had been reports that Kelley was trespassing on railroad property, was armed with a knife and had threatened a railroad employee, Kagay said.

Officers also had a responsibility to keep Kelley from entering the nearby residential area in his condition, he said.

"The threat level escalated when Kelley began using the knife to inflict injury to himself while disobeying law enforcement commands and eventually wielding the knife in a threatening manner," Kagay said. "Finally, the threat level culminated nearly an hour later when Kelley raised the knife and charged at law enforcement officers."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: District attorney rules fatal Topeka police shooting was justifiable