Missouri State Highway Patrol explains how they investigate a police-involved shooting
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ.)
It wouldn't be the first time state investigators have looked at law enforcement shootings in Boone County.
In fact, there have been three cases where law enforcement shot and killed someone in the county since May, including the one this weekend when a Boone County Deputy shot and killed someone east of Columbia. Deputies recognized the vehicle connecting it to a potential kidnapping.
"The suspect then exited the vehicle and began to flee on foot, unfortunately, the suspect produced a weapon which forced our deputy with the Boone County Sheriffs office to use lethal force... the suspect was shot and is diseased," Capt. Brian Leer at the Boone County Sheriff's office said Sunday.
According to Statista, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total of 995 civilians having been shot, as of December 2021.
Columbia and Boone County law enforcement are still investigating what led to the shooting yesterday in east Columbia, but it certainly isn't the first time an investigation like this has occurred.
Back in May, Columbia Police shot and killed James Sears outside of a gas station on Stadium Boulevard. Another happened in November in downtown Columbia, where police shot and killed 30-year-old Quillan Jacobs.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol tells ABC 17, the department typically collects physical evidence at the scene, interviews witnesses or people directly involved and tries to locate possible camera footage of the incident in case there are building nearby that may have captured it.
Investigations like this, Corporal Kyle Green with the Missouri State Highway Patrol says, can take law enforcement months before closing the case, at which time it would be turned over to the local prosecuting attorney's office.
According to MSHP, the number of people involved in each case varies on officers' availability, complexity, of the investigations and caseload.
