Missouri Woman Charged with Murder After Allegedly Killing Paramedic En Route to Hospital
A woman from Missouri has been arrested and sentenced to two separate prison terms within the span of a week for two separate alleged assaults on law enforcement and first responders. These assaults include the fatal stabbing of a paramedic who attempted to provide her with medical attention, as well as the fact that a police officer nearly had “a chunk of his arm” bitten off by the suspect, as stated by the prosecutor.
Shanetta Bossell, 39, is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, third-degree assault, and resisting arrest in Clay County Court in connection to the killing of the paramedic and another bite attack on a different officer who attempted to take her into custody early on Sunday morning, according to the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office. Bossell is also accused of resisting arrest. At the same time, she is being charged with felony assault and resisting arrest for allegedly biting an off-duty cop on April 23. The officer claims that he discovered her attempting to break into vehicles using her teeth.
Prosecutor Zachary Thompson conducted a news conference a few hours after Graham Hoffman, a paramedic fireman with the Kansas City Fire Department, was allegedly murdered by Bossell. During the press conference, he disclosed that Bossell had been arrested just five days previously for assaulting an off-duty police officer.
“When we filed the initial charge and requested a warrant and it was granted, the judge in that case — as in all criminal cases — reviewed the circumstances, determined the appropriate bond, and in that case the bond was set at $10,000 and the defendant posted that bond,” Thompson explained in response to the question of why Bossell was released from custody, as reported by the local ABC affiliate KMBC, which broadcast Thompson’s presser.
In reference to Bossell’s criminal background, Thompson provided the following statement: “A quick review did not show any convictions for these types of offenses.”
According to court documents obtained by the local NBC affiliate KSHB, police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, responded to a request at approximately 12:40 a.m. on Sunday for a welfare check on a lady who was walking on the shoulder of Missouri 152 Highway near North Oak Trafficway. The woman was reportedly in need of assistance when the officers arrived. As a result of the fact that Bossell was discovered at the place with a cut on one of her fingers, the cops decided to give the order for an ambulance.
According to KSHB, when paramedics from the fire department arrived at the site, including Hoffman, they examined Bossell and decided that she was not seeking to cause harm to herself or to other people. Nevertheless, it was stated that she was reluctant to go to the hospital.
Attorneys for the prosecution claim that officers attempted to provide the woman with a ride home; however, she allegedly declined their offer and stated that she would prefer to go in the ambulance, which she ultimately did. There was a consensus among the cops that they would accompany the ambulance to the hospital, and they set out together, with a squad car following closely behind.
During the press conference that took place on Sunday, Thompson described the situation as follows: “After the defendant was initially placed in the ambulance, it was being driven to the hospital, and a police car was following the ambulance.” The defendant is said to have started her assault while the vehicle was in motion, according to the prosecution’s allegations. When the driver of the ambulance pulled over to the side of the road, that is when the police officers became engaged in the situation.
Thompson provided a detailed account of how Bossell was receiving medical attention from Hoffman while he was in the back of the ambulance. According to the Clay County prosecutor, the driver of the ambulance heard the victim yell out that he “needed help.” The driver came to a stop, exited the vehicle, and walked straight to the rear of the vehicle to investigate what was going on.
As soon as they opened the back of the ambulance, they were able to see that a battle was taking place, according to Thompson’s allegations. “At that same moment, Graham made it clear that the defendant was in possession of a knife… It was a blade, similar to a folding knife, and when folded, it measured around four inches in length. According to the prosecution, Hoffman was slain in the event of the battle.
Graham stated that it was not easy to determine whether the weapon was a piece of equipment from the ambulance or whether it was Bossell’s possession. According to the detectives, the knife was found inside the ambulance where it had been transported.
When Bossell attacked the officer during the other incident that occurred last week, she noticed that the officer had a knife on his police vest. The officer had “just gotten off work” and allegedly saw Bossell “trying to get into” people’s cars, including his own. She “tried to grab it several times,” according to her probable cause statement. Bossell had attacked the officer during the other incident.
In reference to the incident that occurred on April 23, the statement states that “He prevented Bossell from grabbing his knife and attempted to get on his police radio in order to get assistance to his location.” “As he was reaching for his radio, Bossell took advantage of the situation and bit him on his left forearm. He tried to wrench his arm free, but Bossell refused to let grip of it. He was concerned that doing so could cause him to lose a significant portion of his arm. When officers from the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department arrived at the scene, they took Bossell into jail.
According to the allegations, Bossell allegedly performed a similar action on the cop who was following the ambulance after he had already stabbed Hoffman on Sunday.
The police officer allegedly bit down on Bossell’s arm when she was attempting to prevent him from getting into the driver’s seat of the emergency car, according to the court filings, which were reported by KSHB. It was only after he whacked Bossell in the back of the head with the butt of his service weapon that he was able to free her, according to the documents.
When asked about Bossell’s history of mental health issues, Thompson responded by saying, “In the state of Missouri, all defendants are presumed to be competent.” Any concerns regarding one’s mental health can be brought up during the course of the court proceedings.
A bond of one million dollars was established for Bossell in connection with the charge of the death of the paramedic.