KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New court documents shed light on the warrant service Tuesday night that triggered a shootout between police and a suspected drug trafficker, which left three Kansas City, Missouri, police officers hospitalized and one man dead.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is handling the investigation, identified the man who died as Matthew L. Carrell on Thursday. Investigators determined he died by suicide.
Thursday morning, KCPD said the three officers remain hospitalized.
Members of the Jackson County Drug Task Force were performing surveillance on a “known illegal narcotics distributor” in the 2300 block of Blue Ridge Boulevard when a federal search warrant was issued for a residence.
The task force requested the assistance of the KCPD Tactical Response Team to serve the warrant.
After an officer knocked on the door shortly after 9:30 p.m., identified himself and announced the search warrant, another officer used a battering ram to breach the front door.
The court documents indicate someone inside the residence allegedly immediately opened fire after the door was opened, striking an officer near the entrance.
Officers returned fire, but two more were shot before the officers fired another volley of shots and retreated.
Carrell, 62, is named in the search warrant from the shootout and 18-hour standoff, which identifies him as a subject from the original surveillance.
Investigators found a cache of weapons and ammunition — including assorted rifles and handguns along with empty magazines and casings — after searching the property.
It’s unclear if federal investigators executed a search related to the federal warrant for suspected drug activity, which was not covered by the KCPD warrant connected to the shootout.
Two men, including Jimmie R. Lewis, left the residence without incident during the standoff.
Lewis, 50, was arrested and charged in federal court with interstate methamphetamine trafficking and two gun-related crimes in connection with a Nov. 7, 2021, incident. He remains in custody pending a March 6 detention hearing.
There have not been any charges announced in connection with Tuesday’s police-involved shooting and standoff.
The second man who exited the residence was a handyman, performing work at the house and not a target of the search warrant, according to court documents.
The standoff continued into Wednesday before law enforcement again entered the residence to clear it.
A woman was taken into custody as law enforcement officers cleared the house and found Carrell’s body in a bedroom.
At least one witness provided a statement “implicating Matthew Carrell, who was another target of the original investigation, as a possible suspect who shot officers,” according to court documents.
The Independence Police Department SWAT team took over the standoff overnight for KCPD before the Missouri State Highway Patrol assumed the lead for the investigation with assistance from the FBI.
A KCPD investigator requested a search warrant for evidence related to the shootout and standoff, including possible surveillance footage as well as guns, ammunition and forensic evidence.
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