UPDATED: Prosecutor clears police of gunman's shooting

Jul. 23—A Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation and the Jasper County prosecutor concluded that a Joplin police officer used justified force in the March 8 fatal shooting of a fleeing gunman who shot three officers during attempts to evade arrest.

The Jasper County prosecutor, Theresa Kenney, said Friday the patrol has submitted a review of the police actions in the case and did not present any charges or probable cause for charges against police in the death of Anthony Felix, 40.

Capt. Will Davis fatally shot Felix that day as Felix fired upon officers who attempted to apprehend him. He had sped away in a police car, leaving two officers mortally wounded at a shopping center at Fourth Street and Geneva Avenue. Felix then led other officers on a chase from Seventh Street to Range Line Road and down 15th Street through a Campbell Parkway neighborhood before being cornered and wounding a third officer in a shootout.

"I believe Capt. Davis's actions were justified," Kenney said. "He returned fire in self-defense."

At a news conference Friday afternoon, the Joplin Police Department showed 27 minutes of video from police body cameras and vehicle cameras that documented some key details in the events that led up to the shooting deaths Cpl. Ben Cooper and patrol Officer Jake Reed, and the subsequent wounding of Officer Rick Hirshey by Felix.

Cooper died the day of the shooting. Reed died three days later. Hirshey was shot in the face by a bullet that pierced the windshield of his cruiser and was hospitalized for eight days. He spent more than three months on medical leave to recover from the shooting before returning to duty in late June.

At the time of the shootings, police said that after Hirshey was hit, Davis left a position of cover to get a clear shot at Felix, downing the gunman who had sprayed numerous rounds at officers during the chase.

On Friday, Joplin police Chief Sloan Rowland said the videos were being made public because the patrol investigation had concluded and because open records requests had been filed for the videos. He said the families of the officers were provided access to the videos and consulted about the public release of them before the news conference was announced.

The videos open with a 911 call to police dispatch by a store manager of The Buckle, 405 Geneva Ave., who said a suspicious acting man had been in the store and harassed an employee. "He just left, but he was getting aggressive," she said.

The first camera video is of Reed, a five-year veteran of the department, driving into the parking lot and seeing the man, described as wearing a leather jacket and red hat, walking nearby. Reed calmly spoke to the man and asked if something had happened at the store.

Felix said nothing was going on. "They told me to leave, and I left," Felix said. After talking to Felix, Reed got some information including Felix's birthdate and told Felix to sit on the curb while he talked to the store personnel to get their side of the story.

Reed sat in the police car and called the store, where the store manager told him that the man had worn a mask in the store, making employees fearful of a robbery or theft. The man was threatening when he was asked to set the jeans on the checkout counter while he continued to shop. Reed was told the man yelled and cussed at the staff, and said the employees had taken the jeans away from him and touched his hand.

Officer Cooper arrived at the location, but his cameras were not turned on. He stood on the street while Reed talked on the phone.

Reed stepped out of his car and told Felix to stand up, that he was under arrest. Felix struggles as the officers try to take hold of him. During the struggle, Reed's body cam fell to the ground and did not pick up the remaining struggle.

The police chief said Felix pulled a gun he had hidden in his clothes and fired two shots that struck Reed. He then turned to Cooper and shot him in the back of the head. Felix got into Cooper's car and drove away.

Cooper's patrol car video showed a Duquesne police car pulling into the parking lot from Seventh Street. Rowland said the Duquesne officer located the downed officers, and called for ambulances and assistance.

Felix sped onto Seventh Street, hitting a median and crossing into the oncoming lanes before he turned off on a side street and sped toward Range Line Road. He turned onto Range Line, then drove into the parking lots at O'Reilly Automotive and then Chili's restaurant, and pulled out onto 15th Street.

Officers following him could be heard in the video reporting that they were traveling at speeds of 65 to 70 mph west on 15th Street. Felix fired nine shots at them. One bullet hit the head rest of an officer's seat, missing his head by inches. Then Felix made a sudden turn onto Campbell Parkway headed toward Connecticut Avenue with smoke showing from the passenger-side rear section of Cooper's patrol car.

After a couple of blocks, the passenger-side back wheel and tire fell off the car and Felix pulled into a driveway and limped the car past the house into a backyard. He jumped out and ran west to some apartments with guns in both hands. A white van was parked near an apartment and he opened the door, but several police cars closed in on his location and he took cover behind the driver's door, and fired at the officers, striking Hirshey.

While Officer Lacey Baxter and others guided a bleeding Hirshey out of the line of fire to take cover behind a vehicle, Baxter called out for help for the wounded officer, shouting, "I need medical right now." Hirshey told Baxter that "he only got me in the face. He only shot one shot."

The police chief said that Cooper and Reed were taken to the hospital where they remained in critical condition until they died.

Felix was a homeless man who stayed with people from time to time, the police chief said. He had a felony conviction and could not legally buy a gun from a store, but he got one from a private individual. There is an ongoing investigation into the sale of the gun to Felix, the chief said.

The second gun he used that day, firing more than 18 shots at police officers, was Reed's service weapon Felix took after shooting him.

The videos do not show the actual shootings of Cooper and Reed.