HANDS UP

Black Woman Shot ‘Five Times’ While Running From Kansas City Officers, Witness Alleges

The witness said Leonna Hale had told the officers she was pregnant before they opened fire.

Kansas City police allegedly shot a Black woman five times on Friday as she was running away, according to a witness. The encounter began after the cops got a tip about a stolen car on Friday night, and they tracked down a vehicle that matched the description. The driver, a man, fled the scene when police approached his car in a store parking lot. But a woman also riding in the car, who’s been identified as Leonna Hale, allegedly told police there was a gun in the vehicle and stepped out with her hands up. Police allegedly told Hale to get on the ground, but a witness said Hale claimed she was pregnant and police drew their weapons when she stepped back and started to run away. “One, two, three, four, five—I remember it because it didn’t stop. They shot five times,” said the witness, who claimed the victim never raised a weapon against the police. Authorities said Hale was hospitalized with serious injuries after the shooting but remains in stable condition.