KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Johnson County District Attorney's Office determined a U.S. Marshal was justified in shooting and injuring a wanted man while attempting to make an arrest in March.
The incident took place March 10 at the Villa Medici Apartments in Overland Park.
The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force member who shot the man, a deputy with the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office, will not face any charges, DA Steve Howe's office announced Monday.
Casey Lawrence Zeff, 30, was a paroled sex offender living with his father at the Villa Medici Apartments, per a case summary from the district attorney.
Zeff had violated his parole and was wanted by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
As Zeff approached the apartment complex's gate in a Kia Soul around 5 p.m. on March 10, two Marshals Service vehicles pinned his vehicle in from the front and behind with additional vehicles on either side.
Task force officers wearing marked uniforms told Zeff to surrender, but he refused to exit the vehicle.
Two officers smashed the Kia's passenger-side window and planned to throw a tear-gas canister into the vehicle "to force Zeff to surrender," but one of the officers spotted Zeff with a gun, per the JoCo District Attorney's review.
Additional officers announced that Zeff was armed and the two officers approaching the vehicle backed away.
Zeff then began backing up and accelerating the Kia forward in an attempt to move the law-enforcement vehicles.
When he was unsuccessful, he opened the passenger-side door with the handgun pressed against his temple and exited the vehicle at which point an officer discharged a taser. The taser missed as Zeff re-entered the vehicle, according to the report.
Zeff then shot himself through the mouth in the cheek before he pointed the weapon at law enforcement officials.
The Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office deputy fired two rounds at Zeff, striking him in the knee.
"Once he pointed it in our direction, that’s when I fired my first shot,” the deputy said in a statement to investigators. "I thought we were going to be shot, seriously injured or killed.”
The scene turned chaotic after officers began firing.
"In the ensuing confusion Zeff was able to leave the Kia and walk all the way to his apartment, where he barricaded himself," the report said.
After several hours of police negotiations, Zeff shot and killed himself.
The Johnson County DA's Office said that deadly force was permissible because the officers had a warrant for Zeff's arrest, no obligation to retreat and because the deputy believed shooting Zeff was necessary to protect himself.
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