A judge in Joplin, Missouri, heard arguments on Thursday in a case about the identity of a Joplin police officer who, through a series of mistakes, shot and killed a toddler during a 2022 standoff.
After arguments from attorneys representing all the parties, Jasper County Circuit Court Judge David Mouton took a step toward greater transparency in the case, but stopped short of ruling to reveal the officer’s name.
Until Thursday, reports about the investigation into Clesslynn “Clessie” Crawford’s killing were kept from public view under a confidential information designation governing some court records.
Mouton removed that designation, allowing greater access to the records.
He said that before ruling on Sniper 1’s identity, however, he needed more time to review the case and conduct research.
In November 2023, the officer sued the City of Joplin to keep his name redacted from records about the fatal shooting of two-year-old Clessie in Baxter Springs, Kansas. Known in investigative reports as “Sniper 1,” the officer’s legal argument is that he fears for his safety should people learn his identity.
KCUR and The Midwest Newsroom sued to intervene in the case, arguing that revealing Sniper 1’s identity is in the public interest.
“The public has the right to know the name of a police officer who recklessly shot and killed an innocent two-year-old child,” said Bernie Rhodes, the attorney representing KCUR and The Midwest Newsroom, who reported on this case in March 2024. “Under this perverse logic the worse a public official acts, the greater the reason to hide his name from the public.”
During the hearing, Rhodes told the judge that, even though Sniper 1 was not convicted of a crime, the taxpayers of Joplin paid $1.4 million for his mistakes. That’s the amount the city paid the victim’s family to settle a lawsuit.
However, on late Friday, Mouton overruled a motion by KCUR and the Midwest Newsroom to dismiss Sniper 1’s lawsuit. Had the motion prevailed, Sniper 1’s name would have been made public.
Now the matter will go to trial early next year.
“We believe in holding government officials accountable and the upcoming trial is the next step in that process,” Rhodes said.
The fatal standoff
The events leading up to the death of a Kansas child by a Missouri sniper’s bullet began around 7:15 p.m. on the night of March 26, 2022.
Facing an escalating hostage situation, local law enforcement on the scene in Baxter Springs knew it would take the Kansas Highway Patrol or Kansas Bureau of Investigation at least three hours to arrive. So they called the closest SWAT team, in Joplin — about 20 minutes away across the state line. There was an existing agreement for mutual aid between Joplin and Cherokee County, Kansas.
A KCUR-Midwest Newsroom investigation, published in March 2024, provided a detailed account of the mistakes that led to Clessie’s death at the scene of the standoff. KCUR’s Sam Zeff based his reporting on an 800-page investigation by the KBI, a 37-page report by the Cherokee County prosecutor, interviews and research on sniper training and practices.
According to the KBI report, after he took the shot, Sniper 1 told investigators he was summoned to the command post with his rifle. There he met a Cherokee County detective who took custody of the weapon.
“I asked what was going on, what he could tell me, and he told me I shot the kid,” Sniper 1 said. “I probably was distraught and I kept on saying that I’m screwed.”
On Sept. 1, 2023 — some 17 months after Clessie was killed — Cherokee County Attorney Nathan Coleman, decided against charging Sniper 1.
“If the Officer reasonably perceived Clesslynn to be the attacker when the shot was fired, it is this office’s opinion that statutory immunity would apply and the Officer would be immune from prosecution,” he concluded.
In April 2024, Joplin residents rallied to demand police reveal the identity of Sniper 1 by marching through the downtown.
“As far as I know, no local news sources were covering it,” said Austin Hagston, who organized the march. “As a Joplin citizen, they tried to sweep the whole thing under the rug.”
Hagston, 25, said he had never protested anything in his life until he read about Clessie.
“I have an almost two-year-old daughter here," he said. "As a father and expectant father, I'm just terrified knowing that the officer is still out there, still on duty, somebody who is kind of a loose cannon."
Sniper 1, known in Joplin Circuit Court as “John Doe,” remains employed by the Joplin Police Department, although he is no longer a sniper and is not part of the SWAT team.
Sam Zeff and Michele Skalicky contributed to this report.
The Midwest Newsroom is an investigative and enterprise journalism collaboration that includes Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR.
There are many ways you can contact us with story ideas and leads, and you can find that information here.
METHODS:
For this story, Michele Skalicky of KSMU attended a hearing in Joplin Circuit Court on Dec. 19, 2024. In addition, Holly Edgell referred to previous reporting by Sam Zeff.
REFERENCES:
- Missouri Courts Automated System Security Guidelines
- A Missouri police sniper killed a 2-year-old girl. Why did he take the shot?
- A Missouri SWAT sniper sued to keep his name a secret. We’re suing to learn his identity
TYPE OF ARTICLE:
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
