Officials say use of force justified in December 2025 deputy shooting at Panasonic plant

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.

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Johnson County, Kansas, District Attorney Steve Howe announced Friday a sheriff's deputy involved in a December 2025 deadly shooting of a stabbing suspect acted lawfully.

Jonathan Lunceford, 55 at the time, was suspected of stabbing a man on Dec. 12, 2025, at the Panasonic battery plant in De Soto, Kansas.

The victim, who was 54 at the time, was stabbed multiple times, according to Howe.

During an interaction with two Johnson County Sheriff's Office deputies at the scene, Lunceford was shot and killed.

Lunceford was given multiple commands by the deputies to stop as they tried to arrest him. After deputies tased Lunceford, he moved toward "Deputy B," according to a report from Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe.

Johnson County Sheriff Byron Roberson said Friday 10 taser probes were sent toward the suspect, but the gear he was wearing may have made the probes less effective.

Howe said the deputies could have lawfully used deadly force at multiple points during their interaction with Lunceford. Officials showed one of the deputy's body camera footage from the incident during a press conference Friday, revealing the decision to shoot Lunceford was made in roughly two minutes.

Parts of the video below could be disturbing for some viewers.

"I retreated to keep my distance and there's where, you know, thinking back, I should have shot him right then and there — again, wanted to give him options, wanted to give him a little more time," said "Deputy B" in an interview with investigators per documents from the district attorney's office.

Lunceford continued running away from the deputies toward the original scene where the stabbing victim, paramedics and others were located, Howe said. "Deputy A" shot him as he fled.

Howe said the two deputies acted to protect others at the Panasonic plant.

"This vast facility and hundreds of people who were there were under threat by Mr. Lunceford, and so therefore, I have made the decision the officers acted lawfully," Howe said.

Howe said the victim told investigators the stabbing attack "came out of the blue," and that the motive is still unclear.

“The only information we were able to gather is they (Lunceford and the victim) actually had a pretty good relationship," Howe said.

Howe said coworkers at the plant said Lunceford was acting like a different person than they had seen before. Autopsy results revealed there were no drugs or alcohol in Lunceford's system.

The stabbing victim was a supervisor to Lunceford, who was a construction contractor, not an employee of the Panasonic plant, per Howe.

The victim recovered from the stabbing injuries, Howe said during the press conference.

Both Howe and Roberson credit two coworkers for acting heroically during the incident, saying they pulled Lunceford off the victim during the stabbing and took possession of the knife.

“We thank the heroic individuals working at the Panasonic plant who administered first aid to the victim’s stab wounds," Roberson said.

The two deputies involved were placed on administrative leave following the shooting — both are now back in service.

“Deputy A was very, very much affected by this," Roberson said Friday. "That deputy has spent the last nine months thinking about this. That's very trying on a law enforcement officer.”

"Deputy A" has been with the sheriff's office from four to five years and "Deputy B" has 10 years with the agency, according to the sheriff.

You can watch the press conference in the video player below.

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