On Friday night, police in Kansas City, Missouri, shot a pregnant Black woman five times as she attempted to flee arrest.
According to an eyewitness, the police officer shot the pregnant woman multiple times as she attempted to flee. “They shot five times,” a witness identified as Shé danja told the Kansas City Star. “I remember seeing her hit the ground and I froze.”
The injured woman was suspected of committing a carjacking with the help of a male accomplice.
KCTV identified her as Leonna Hale, 26. She is still alive, but she sustained serious injuries and was transported to a hospital, where she is in stable condition.
On Friday, officers from the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) confronted the two suspects in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP). The male suspect reportedly jumped out of the car and fled, but Ms. Hale remained and raised her hands.
“She did not pull out a weapon on them,” Shé danja said to the Star. “She did not even have a stick in her hand.”
According to Shé danja, the officers repeatedly told Ms. Hale to get down on the ground, but she explained to them that she couldn’t because she was pregnant.
Ms. Hale told police that there was a gun in the car as they argued. She eventually began backing up toward a fence, and the cops approached her with their guns drawn.
Hale, who appeared to be panicking, eventually turned and attempted to flee. Shedanja stated that the police shot her after she made just three steps.
“One, two, three, four, five,” the witness counted the gunshots. “I remember it because it didn’t stop.”
The woman is lying on the ground with her hands behind her back and what appears to be blood on her shirt in the video Shé danja shared with the Star.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is currently investigating the incident, according to police reports.
