Editor's note: This report includes embedded video from a news conference in which video was played showing the moments leading up to the police shooting. Readers should use discretion before continuing.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe ruled Wednesday an Olathe police officer properly used deadly force and will not be charged in a Dec. 31., 2022, shooting that resulted in the death of Brandon Lynch, 27.
Howe said his findings were based on the Johnson County Officer Involved Critical Incident Investigative Team’s investigation.
“Based on those facts and application of Kansas Law, it is my determination that the officer properly used deadly force in this incident and will not be facing charges,” Howe said in a news conference.
Lynch's loved ones released a statement, via their attorneys at Cannezzaro Marvel, of their discontent after the ruling was announced.
"We are immensely disappointed with the Johnson County District Attorney's decision not to charge the officer who shot and killed Brandon. We disagree with the determination that the officer's use of deadly force was reasonable and will continue to pursue justice on his behalf," the statement read.
Details of incident
To explain his reasoning, Howe shared a portion of the initial 911 call that brought officers to the Lynch residence at Wednesday's press conference.
Police were called around 11:10 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2022, to the 900 block of E. Oakview Street for a physical disturbance.
Lynch’s sister called police from her room and told officers her brother had punched her in the face. At the time of the call, dispatch told her to lock her door as she said he could be “anywhere in the house.”
She also said she was bleeding and that her brother was making threats of wanting to kill everyone in the house.
“He could have a knife … I don’t know. He also keeps a taser on him that he threatens everyone in the house with all the time,” the sister said on the call.
Howe said the details shared in the call provided “clarity” to his decision.
After sharing the 911 call, Howe played the body-worn footage of the incident, which took roughly less than 3 minutes from start to finish.
The video showed officers entering the residence, going downstairs and making contact with Lynch in his room.
Officers asked him to come out of the room, but Lynch yelled for officers to “get out.”
In the video, an officer tells Lynch to put down a stun gun and yells that he’s under arrest, to which Lynch responded, “For what? Cleaning?”
As the distance between the two closed, the officer then told Lynch to put a knife down. Lynch did not comply.
He advanced toward the officers up a half-flight of stairs into the living room.
Police then tased Lynch twice, repeatedly yelling for him to drop the weapon. Lynch appeared unaffected by the taser and continued to yell for officers to exit the home.
One officer gave two verbal warnings to Lynch, saying, “If you come toward me I will shoot you.”
Lynch was then told he was under arrest for resisting before walking toward the officers, at which point shots were fired.
The DA additionally shared a diagram of the house to provide a visual aid for how much space was between Lynch and the officer at the time of the shooting, which was said to be less than 15 feet.
In training, officers are taught an average person can sprint 21 feet in roughly 1.5 seconds, meaning any distance less than 21 feet increases the potential risk of “great bodily harm,” per Force Science.
Officers recovered a butterfly knife as well as a taser near Lynch’s body in the residence.
How mental health played a factor
“Being forced to take an action that causes the death of another is a tragic event that is never the desired outcome,” said Olathe Police Department Chief Mike Butaud.
Butaud offered his condolences to the family and spoke on the department’s continued efforts to increase mental health resources and training.
While there was no co-responder on the call, Howe said it would not have changed the situation's dynamics.
Mental health professionals are not allowed to engage until the scene is deemed secure, and Howe said the scene was deemed not a “controlled situation.”
However, Lynch had a known history of mental health issues.
Howe said Lynch suffered from “serious mental illness” and was under the care of the county’s mental health department after his office filed an involuntary commitment proceeding against Lynch in 2022. The 27-year-old had also been released from an outpatient treatment order about 30 days before the incident.
“The officers that were involved in this incident had had previous contact with Lynch, and the officer who was involved in the shooting actually had had a physical altercation at a previous incident with Lynch," Howe said. "So he was well aware of the potential situation that was going on.”
Despite such factors, a mental health co-responder would not have been allowed to aid in de-escalating the situation due to Lynch’s possession of a weapon, if one were to have responded on the call.
Howe's reasoning
Further defending his decision, Howe cited the officer’s use of nonlethal tactics: using his words, creating distance and deploying a taser.
When no tactics were successful, Howe deemed it was “reasonable” the officer felt he had run out of options and his life was in danger.
“The test is, did the steps he took on that day, was it reasonable based on all the facts?” Howe said. “ … Lynch took the actions that caused his death, the officers reacted to the aggressiveness of Lynch throughout that episode.”
When asked how the Olathe Police Department is working to avoid such an incident in the future, Chief Butaud spoke to the department’s “robust” behavioral health unit,” saying the department is in the works of expanding it to be 24/7.
But in the incident of Lynch’s shooting, he said it was more than a mental health call.
“This was a violent act where he attacked his sister and was going to be arrested for domestic violence,” Butaud said. “In a situation where somebody is simply there that’s in crisis, you may be able to do something different. If there hasn’t been a crime committed, you might be able to leave that person there. But that was not this situation.”
Howe’s ruling that the deadly force was justified means the officers who were placed on paid leave may return to work. While one has already returned, Butaud says the other will be back “soon.”
In 2022, Butaud said OPD received 3,000 calls of persons in crisis. The department’s mental health unit responded to 900 of those calls, and 54 were diverted to ensure those individuals received help rather than spent time behind bars.
Watch the news conference:
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