An investigative report and previously unseen videos from the 2018 Ԁᴇɑтһ of a Kansas teenager ѕһᴏт multiple times by police during a wellness check were released Thursday by the city of Overland Park — much-needed transparency, his family said, after more than three years of demanding that files in the case be made public.
“I thought he was going to run me over, man,” Jenison can be heard repeating in one video, as he sobbed and breathed heavily after the ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ.
But Albers’ parents believe the files still don’t explain the full story, and questioned Friday why there wasn’t a scene diagram and reconstruction report of the ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ, and why although Jenison’s training history was included, no performance reviews or more information about the officer’s employment were available.
“This ‘investigation’ contains little information about the officer that fɪгᴇԀ һɪѕ wᴇɑρᴏп 13 times or his performance as a police officer,” Steve and Sheila Albers said in a statement.
The ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ of Albers has remained in the spotlight in Kansas, a state where police records are largely kept under wraps, even after a case is closed. The FBI in September confirmed that it has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the police ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ; the review remains pending.
One month after the Jan. 20, 2018, ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe released some dashcam video when he announced that Jenison, who said he feared for his life, was justified and would not be charged. At the time, the police department did not have body-worn cameras.
The newly released files include social media posts and journal entries in which John Albers, a high school junior, expressed mental health struggles. Police were called to the Albers’ home when a friend was concerned that he may have been intoxicated and feeling ѕᴜɪᴄɪԀɑʟ and had threatened to ѕтɑЬ himself with a knife.
“John may not have been perfect, but he was deeply loved,” the Albers said in their statement. “He deserved an investigation that was competent, unbiased and backed by evidence. This was not an investigation, it was victim blaming.”
The city of Overland Park, in its decision to make the files public, said it had received numerous requests for the report, but consistently denied them because the files had “ѕᴇпѕɪтɪᴠᴇ personal information” and their release “can have a serious negative impact on future investigations.”
In January, NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri, sued the city for the release of the investigative files related to the case. The city at the time sought dismissal of the lawsuit, which remains pending.
But in a surprise move this week, the city said it would release a redacted report and some evidence.
“As a result of this ongoing discussion, misinformation has been circulated resulting in a serious erosion of public trust over this period of time,” the city said in a statement, adding that the withholding of the report “has become an obstacle to restoring the community’s trust and confidence in the City of Overland Park, its officials, and the Overland Park Police Department.”
Neither the police department nor the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office immediately responded to requests for comment about how the Albers characterized the investigation, which was handled by the Johnson County Officer Involved Ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ Investigation Team. Sean Reilly, a spokesman for the city, said Friday that a 3D scan of the crime scene is being retained by Johnson County’s crime lab.
“Our sympathy goes out to the family and we respect their perspective,” Reilly wrote in an email. “However, the city concurs with the district attorney that the officer reasonably feared for his life and it was a lawful use of fᴏгᴄᴇ.”
Albers’ family has long questioned the police’s narrative of the night the teen was ᴋɪʟʟᴇԀ.
Just before dusk, Albers was home alone while his family went out for dinner. That’s when a concerned friend contacted police for a welfare check, according to a federal complaint filed by the family against the city and Jenison. Albers was known to police because of past domestic incidents, and, according to the complaint, police knew he “potentially had mental health problems.”
Dashcam videos and a neighbor’s security camera showed Jenison and another officer arriving at the home. They first spoke for a few minutes outside and did not knock on the front door or identify themselves. Eventually, the family’s garage door swung open, and Jenison unholstered his wᴇɑρᴏп and moved toward the door as the minivan, which Albers was driving, began to back out slowly and in a straight line. Jenison reacted, aiming his wᴇɑρᴏп and yelling, “Stop, stop, stop.” Jenison, who was standing to the right of the van, fɪгᴇԀ twice toward Albers; the family’s complaint contended that one or both of the bullets struck the teenager, “incapacitating him and rendering him unable to control the minivan.”
The car stopped but then speeded up in reverse, making a U-turn in the driveway and backing up. Jenison fɪгᴇԀ 11 more shots, and the minivan pulled forward, past another police car that had just approached, and coasted in neutral into the driveway of a home across the street, according to the report and dashcam video.
An autopsy report later showed that six bullets had struck Albers: in the head, the upper neck, the left shoulder, the right shoulder, the back torso and the lower lip. A toxicology report indicated that he had not been under the influence of Ԁгᴜɡѕ or alcohol.
In interviews with investigators four days after the ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ, Jenison, who had been with the Overland Park Police Department for about two years, explained: “I unholstered my service wᴇɑρᴏп. I approached the garage door. The vehicle started backing out. I told him to stop. He didn’t listen to my commands. I ѕһᴏт.”
Watch the video below:
