Who was John Albers? FBI probes killing of Kansas boy, 17, whom police shot 13 times during wellness check
MEAWW News
September 28, 2020
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into the death of a Kansas teenager who had been shot to death while he backed his vehicle out of the garage of his family's home. John Albers, 17, who hails from Overland Park, had been shot 13 times in January 2018. Officer Clayton Jenison had been dispatched to conduct a wellness check after a friend had called authorities as they thought that Albers was suicidal, the Daily Mail reports.
The FBI will now "collect all available facts and evidence and will ensure that the investigation is conducted in a fair, thorough, and impartial manner." As per NBC News, the FBI had not stated that the reason for the review though the agency's field office in Kansas City, Missouri, is working alongside the US attorney's office in Kansas and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.
Albers had been attempting to reverse his family's minivan out of the driveway when Jenison fired several rounds into the car after ordering Albers to stop. Video footage shows that Jenison had never been in the minivan's path and it is not clear whether Albers even noticed Jenison as he tried to leave.
Officer Jenison had not been named publicly after the shooting took place due to the state's restrictive public records laws until Albers' family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The mother of the victim, Sheila Albers, alleged that the officials had refused to provide any records regarding the incident. After an investigation took place, Jenison was placed on administrative leave and later offered to resign from his post. He faced no charges in connection to the killing which was ruled as justifiable. Before any administrative action was taken, the officer resigned from his post.
Sheila Albers has revealed that she has welcomed the FBI and US Attorney's Office investigation and hopes that it will "shed light on what Overland Park and our DA have been able to keep hidden." Sheila added that the opening of an investigation "highlights the failure of Overland Park and District Attorney Steve Howe to be transparent in their investigations and be accountable to their constituents."
For the longest time, Sheila has been skeptical and questioned the police narrative that Jenison had no other choice but to shoot John as he was in immediate danger. She shared that she is hoping for more transparency from the federal investigation after officials "disseminated a false narrative, cleared the officer of wrongdoing in record time and structured a severance payout to the officer that killed John."
A spokesman for the city of Overland Park, Sean Reilly shared, "Officials will 'fully cooperate ... just as we cooperated with the investigations conducted by the Johnson County District Attorney's office and the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers' Standards."
The night that John was killed, his family had gone out to dinner while the police were conducting a wellness check at his home. The footage shows the officers arriving at the home after John's friends revealed that he was threatening to kill himself.
Two officers arrived at the home but did not approach the front door nor did they try to make any contact with John. John died from the gunshot wounds he sustained and as per a toxicology report, there was no drugs or alcohol in his system.
1 comment:
If they shot him 17 times he must not have been that well.
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