A police officer in Fairway, Kansas, has died after suffering injuries from a Sunday morning shootout at a QuikTrip, the second officer in the Kansas City metro to die while on duty this year.
Jonah Oswald, 29, had been with the Fairway Police Department four years. Officials say Oswald, along with other officers, was trying to arrest two suspects at a QuikTrip in Mission at 4700 Lamar Avenue when shooting broke out.
Oswald was injured in the shooting and taken to a hospital in critical condition. He died Monday.
Fairway Chief of Police J.P. Thurlo said in a statement that Oswald “made the ultimate sacrifice while carrying out his oath to serve and protect.”
“Officer Oswald was an integral part of our team and made significant contributions to our department and to the Fairway community,” Thurlo said. “We will remember him as a warm-hearted individual whose hard work and passion touched the lives of many.”
Oswald leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Fairway Police have established a memorial fund, with donations all going to Oswald’s family. You can make a donation online here.
Checks made payable to “Answering the Call” can be mailed to PO Box 6763, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, 64064.
What happened
The incident began when Lenexa police responded to reports of a stolen car Sunday morning, at West 95th Street and I-35. Officials say the driver, 40-year-old Shannon Wayne Marshall from Tennessee, struck a Lenexa patrol car and then fled in what was suspected to be a stolen car.
The ensuing police chase ended in Mission, Kansas, when the driver stopped at a QuikTrip near Lamar Ave. and I-35. Two people got out of the vehicle and then went into the gas station, officials say.
Law enforcement from Lenexa, Fairway, Mission and the Kansas Highway Patrol were on the scene to arrest the suspects when gunfire broke out. One of the suspects, Shannon Wayne Marshall, died in the shootout.
The other suspect, 32-year-old Andrea Rene Cothran from Tennessee, was arrested and charged Tuesday with aggravated battery, fleeing law enforcement, felony theft and reckless driving. Her bond was set at $1 million.
The Johnson County Officer-Involved Critical Incident Investigation Team is investigating the shooting. It’s still unclear who fired the shots and how many were fired.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit dedicated to officers who die in the line of duty, 72 law enforcement officers in the U.S. have died so far this year. Close to half of those deaths were caused by gunfire. Last year, 247 law enforcement officers died nationwide.
Oswald is the second officer in the Kansas City metro to die while on duty this year. In February, Kansas City Police Department Officer James Muhlbauer and his K-9 partner Champ died in a traffic crash.
Last year, North Kansas City Police Office Daniel Francisco Vasquez was shot and killed after making a traffic stop.
Law enforcement ranks near the middle in terms of workplace fatalities, according to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Delivery and truck drivers and construction workers see higher numbers of workplace deaths.
