KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man, who police say shot and killed his wife and 12-year-old son before killing himself last year, used a gun he illegally obtained from a Veterans Affairs Medical Center armory door.
The revelations were made public Friday in a report from the Office of the Special Counsel by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
On April 1, 2024, police were called to a home in the 8300 block of NW 90th Street to check the welfare of those inside.
When officers made entry, they discovered the bodies of 38-year-old Dominque A. McGeachy, 12-year-old Jerel D. McGeachy Jr., and 38-year-old Jerel D. McGeachy Sr.
The police investigation indicated McGeachy Sr. shot and killed his wife and son before turning the gun on himself.
In the days following the deaths, the community remembered the 12-year-old boy.
Watch KSHB 41 News reporter Megan Abundis' report last April in the video player below:
In Friday’s report from the Office of Special Counsel, investigators say they received a tip from a whistleblower who indicated that McGeachy Sr. should not have had access to the weapon used in the deadly shooting.
McGeachy served as a police officer at the Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leavenworth. In March 2024, a judge in Platte County issued a protective order against McGeachy.
The protective order prohibited McGeachy from possessing firearms. Police administrators at the Leavenworth VA received notice of the protective order and confiscated McGeachy’s badge and credentials on March 29. Tragically, and against department policy, administrators did not obtain McGeachy’s keys and PIV card.
McGeachy would later use those keys and PIV card to access the armory door and obtain a firearm.
Investigators say it was that firearm that McGeachy used to kill his wife and son.
In the months since the discovery, officials at the VA say they have corrected issues with accessing the armory and other actions.
Earlier this month, VA administrators told the Office of the Special Counsel that “disciplinary action was taken, or is pending, against the Eisenhower VAMC Chief of Police, Deputy Chief, and a Lieutenant who are no longer in police service.”
“I thank the whistleblower for bringing the allegations to OSC,” Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger said. “As a result of the investigation, the agency identified and corrected serious safety deficiencies that will hopefully prevent future tragedies like the one that prompted this investigation.”
“I join the Kansas City community in mourning the tragic loss of life,” Dellinger said.
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Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
