KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County prosecutors have charged a Kansas City, Missouri, man in connection with a crime spree in which he allegedly opened fire toward an undercover officer.
Trevon Antwon Lee Barnett, 30, faces charges of first-degree assault to a special victim, aggravated fleeing a stop or detention, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of armed criminal action.
Around 8:25 p.m. Sunday, a Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department officer was doing surveillance in an unmarked vehicle near 27th Street and Indiana Avenue when he spotted a black Cadillac SUV that looked similar to one taken in an armed robbery.
The officer watched the SUV leave a Conoco, located at 2711 Indiana Ave., and speed away when the unmarked vehicle tried to follow. He told detectives he didn’t pursue the SUV, but he continued to canvas the area.
When the officer reached the intersection of 25th Street and Bellefontaine Avenue, the driver of the SUV opened fire on the officer’s vehicle, according to a probable cause statement.
The SUV then fled from marked police cars, who attempted to conduct a stop at Interstate 670 and Stateline Road. The driver tried to elude police in Kansas before returning to Kansas City, Missouri.
The suspect came to a dead end on Holly Street and struck two parked vehicles.
After taking off on foot into a wooded area, the driver was located by a helicopter in a bush near Cesar Chavez and Holly streets.
Court documents say the SUV reached speeds of over 90 mph on the highway and about 85 mph on city streets during the pursuit.
Police identified eight bullet holes in the front of the unmarked police vehicle, and three spent 9mm casings were found in the SUV. Canine units also discovered a black 9mm Glock 19 near the spot Barnett was hiding when he fled from officers.
During an interview with detectives, the undercover officer said he was trying to locate an armed carjacking suspect when he spotted the SUV, matching the description of one stolen in an armed robbery, pull into the gas station.
Video obtained by detectives showed a black Cadillac SUV pull up to the intersection of 25th and Bellefontaine and fire several shots at the unmarked police vehicle, per a probable cause statement.
When Barnett was interviewed by detectives, he was observed wearing the same clothes he was in on video surveillance just before the incident. Barnett claimed he did not pull over for police because a Missouri officer attempted to pull him over in Kansas, and he was a felon who had weed in the vehicle.
Detectives asked Barnett about the handgun, and he said, “So I'm being charged with a gun and discharge of a firearm?” Barnett claimed he didn’t shoot at anyone or a vehicle, according to court documents.
Barnett was convicted of felonies — criminal discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and racketeering — in 2016 and 2018 in Kansas.
He remained in custody Monday on a $150,000, cash-only bond.
The KCPD officer was not injured during the shots-fired incident.
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