Pregnant Black woman suspected of carjacking is shot five times by Missouri police, witness says

‘They shot five times,’ says the witness. ‘I remember seeing her hit the ground and I froze’

An eyewitness says police in Kansas City , Missouri repeatedly shot an unarmed pregnant woman as she tried to run away.

“They shot five times,” the witness, who only gave her first name, Shedanja, told the Kansas City Star . “I remember seeing her hit the ground and I froze.”

The injured woman, who is Black, was suspected of carrying out a carjacking with a male accomplice. KCTV has identified her as Leonna Hale, 26. She is still alive, but suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, where she is in stable condition.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP), Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) officers confronted the pair of suspects in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store on Friday. The male suspect reportedly jumped out of the car and ran away, but Ms Hale stayed and put her hands up.

“She did not pull out a weapon on them,” Shedanja told the Star . “She did not even have a stick in her hand.”

CRUEL SCAM: A SINGLE dad took his own life after being tricked into sending money in an online romance scam.

Christopher Leeds transferred £500 to a woman who seemed to want a relationship, and was later found dead at home.

An inquest heard how the 43-year-old roofer started speaking to a woman, supposedly from Africa, who then started to demand cash.

Chris, from Dolgellau, Gwynedd in north west Wales, sent at least £500 for her flight to the UK, but she then started to ask for more.

Friend Gareth Evans said Chris soon realised he had been scammed but told him about another woman in Nigeria called 'Paramount'.

He gave her money too, and she was supposed to land in Britain two days before Chris' death.

Gareth said when he visited his pal he had been visibly upset, and when he returned later to check on his welfare he was dead.

Distraught family members attended the inquest into his death.

One woman told the coroner: "It was a scam. We have been through messages on his phone."

'A GENTLE SOUL'

Coroner Kate Sutherland recorded a conclusion of suicide and described the case as "truly, truly tragic".

She said: "He may well have been scammed and had been suffering from embarrassment.

"He appears to have been scammed by a person or persons purporting to be a woman or women from Africa. He was hugely impacted."

The coroner added: "He had years and years ahead of him. It presents a stark warning about the dangers out there."

Gareth, who said he knew his friend since he was a child, recalled how on the day of the tragedy a tearful Chris had told him "lots of s*** had happened with Paramount".

When Gareth returned to see if he was okay on December 5, 2020, he found Chris hanging and called for an ambulance and police.

"I said to the operator he had already gone," Gareth said in a statement read at the inquest.

Chris had been a guitarist with the group The Loaded Dice who once won a national competition to find Britain's best "live and unsigned" band.

Paying tribute to their former member, the group posted on their Facebook page: "While the band has long since gone its separate ways, we’re truly saddened to hear of the passing of former band member Christopher Leeds.

"He was a massive part of this band and all the boys are devastated by the news, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Rest easy Chris."

And an online obituary described Chris as "a loving son, brother, dad, uncle and friend".

It added: "To those close to Chris the loss is immeasurable but so is the love left behind.

"A gentle soul who will be missed by so many."


Source: thesun.co.uk/news