KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Independence Police Department released body camera footage of a police shooting that resulted in the death of a mother and her baby.
The incident took place on Nov. 7 at the Oval Springs Apartment Complex.
Baby Destinii Hope, who was born in August, and Maria Pike, 34, died in the incident. They were visible in the body camera video.
"It's apparent that no one here is belligerent, aggressive, or argumentative," said Ed Obayash, a police use-of-force legal advisor for the Modoc County Sheriff's Office in Alturas, California. "The to answer your question, 'Yes, there's no indicia of danger here.'"
Obayashi told KSHB 41 domestic disturbance calls put officers at the greatest danger.
"They weren't prepared for it; that's not to say the officers were at fault," Obayashi said. "There was no indication that would be the result — a mother holding a baby was going to pull out a concealed large kitchen knife at the officers."
The Independence Police Department released an edited version of the video with time gaps in the sequence of events.
An edited slide writes, "As part of our commitment to transparency, we will show relevant video footage, evidence, and the law enforcement response to this incident. Because this investigation is still active at this time, our goal is to provide the public with a better understanding of what occurred based on what we know up to this point."
Obayashi weighed in on the aspect of the video being edited.
"There are reasons that it was edited for certain reasons, which we can only speculate on. Eventually, the entire video will most likely be released," he said. "This video has been dissected, bisected, and analyzed frame by frame — I'm not going to say that the department was trying to conceal anything; that's the last thing that they want to do; they want to be as transparent as possible to the extent they believe they've released what they feel is appropriate to be released."
The released body cam footage shows Pike in a bedroom closet holding Destinii.
Footage from the officer who discharged his weapon is heard asking Pike if she is "OK "and if she is "hurt." He followed up asking her to set the baby down.
"There apparently was a reason why that officer wanted the mother to put the baby down; we just don't know," Obayashi said. "Was she a suspect? Had she harmed the baby? Was that one of the reasons for their call? We just don't know. But in the officer's mind, he felt it was prudent to ask to separate the mother from the child for whatever reason."
Following the initial incident, Independence Chief of Police Adam Dustman held a press conference.
He released minimal information at the time pertaining to the department's investigation.
"There was one of our mental health co-responders on scene and actually responded to the scene to engage," Dustman said. "Ultimately, [they] did not end up engaging before the situation escalated to where it ultimately resulted in those fatalities."
Obayashi told KSHB 41 large agencies can contract a civilian crisis prevention specialist to dispatch on disturbances to assist law enforcement.
KSHB 41 asked him why a mental health expert would not have intervene before the Pike brandished a knife at officers.
"By policy, these corresponding agencies will not permit that situation," Obayashi said. "They will not allow their personnel to enter a potentially dangerous situation, period."
Responding officers must determine a situation is safe for a co-responding agency to enter the premises.
"You don't want to provoke a situation which is already uncertain," he said.
To Obayashi's point of provocation, he says entering a home with non-lethal weapons of force could only cause more harm than good.
"There were always other options. But under the circumstances, when you have a life-threatening situation that occurs instantaneously and you have no time to react, you're going to rely on your training and experience," he said. "In this case, the officer reasonably perceived that he and his partner's life was in danger and had to respond accordingly."
The investigation into the matter remains ongoing. The two officers involved remain on administrative leave.
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KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. Share your story idea with Ryan.