At some point in the near future, the name of the Joplin Police Department sniper who accidentally shot and killed 2-year-old Clesslyn Crawford March 26, 2022 will be made public.
Attorney Bernard Rhoads, who represents KCUR, a public radio station, told KSNF/KODE that part of an agreement reached between the officer, who is referred to as "John Doe' in court records, and KCUR and Nathaniel Dagley of Webb City, who are listed as plaintiffs and/or intervenors in the case.
The rest of the details of the agreement have not been released.
A letter from attorney Sean McCauley, representing the sniper and sent to Jasper County Circuit Court Judge David Mouton said the agreement had been reached.
The trial had been scheduled to begin April 8.
The City of Joplin was scheduled to release the officer's name in response to a Sunshine Law request when "John Doe" filed a request November 20, 2023 for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction.
The sniper was with a JPD contingent that was called in for assistance March 26, 2022 for a standoff at 340 Wyandotte Avenue in Baxter Springs. A female caller told Baxter Springs dispatch she needed helped and when officers arrived, the woman, Taylor Dawn Shutte, 27, was shot to death by Eli Crawford, 37, who then went back into the house with their 2-year-old daughter, Clesslyn Crawford.
Crawford began shooting at officers from the Baxter Springs Police Department and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, who called in additional assistance from the Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Joplin Police Department SWAT including John Doe.According to a report issued in September 2023 by the Cherokee County District Attorney's office and including the conclusions of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Eli Crawford fired more than 90 rounds from the trailer window.
Crawford offered a deal to negotiators, according to the report.
Negotiations continued for the next 20 minutes interspersed with shots from the trailer. At that point, John Doe took the fatal shot, which he described in the report.
"I was presented with his upper torso and his arm. And I could tell it was that, because I could see the triangle of light between his left — his torso and his arm. I aimed at the left side of the frame of the window without hitting the framed — without hitting the frame, and I aimed up to where I thought it would be about his pectoral region and I fired a round.
"I reloaded. Just seconds later, there was a muffled shot. It didn't sound like a normal gunshot I had been hearing. The other two snipers on the west side, watching the front door, came over the radio and said they heard a muffled, a muffled, or a round fired from inside."
The muffled shot, the report says, was Crawford killing himself after John Doe's bullet killed his daughter.
Following the investigation, Cherokee County District Attorney's office determined no charges would be filed against John Doe and that he was justified in using deadly force against Eli Crawford, the person he thought he was shooting.
John Doe was also cleared in the Joplin Police Department internal investigation.
John Doe's petition said he had been the target of an anonymous Facebook group Blue Wall of Silence, which has offered a cash reward "for the name of the Joplin, Missouri officer who fired the lethal bullet into the skull of a little toddler in pink pajamas last march in Kansas," and which has posted other messages the petition describes as "disturbing."
The release of Doe's name could cause harm to the officer and his family, the petition said.
10 comments:
Name and shame the child murderer. Great news.
The father already proved he was willing to shoot his family. The officers had to take that into account and try to rescue the daughter from what the father could do to her. I feel bad that the little girl was killed but the father created that situation. The officer does have to live with what happened but if the standoff continued the father could have killed the girl and the keyboard mod would be complaining why the police didn’t do enough. To the officer, I pray you find peace that transcends this moment in your life.
You need help.
They deserve no peace for taking a bad shot and killing a child.
Put yourself in the officers position. You can always judge and what is the point in the officers name what good is that going to do. Its stupid and should be done...Let people move on.
Granted it was the Father who created this terrible situation causing the death of his daughter, but what were the qualifications of the policeman that took that shot - before he pulled the trigger, did the policeman analyze a complex set of environmental, ballistic, and mission-specific variables to ensure a precise, one-shot kill. Key considerations include range-to-target, wind speed/direction, target movement, air density (temperature/pressure), and the weapon's "dope". Just what were the qualifications of the policeman - shooting at a non-moving target no matter distance or not - is not the answer - practicing in daylight at a firing range is not the answer - again when you pull the trigger you better be able to back up your skills with proven experience and training - - Not Assumptions or Rambo Movie Pretend Skills!
And when his name is released, him and his family will be living in constant fear of some idiot with an agenda coming for them. This will do far more harm than good. It would be a failure of the courts to release that information. People aren't upset about the little girl, as they claim, their hatred of officers supersedes their claims that it's about the girl. Anyone advocating for this is simply wanting more violence because they hate officers. That's it.
It's simply not waiting for violence and you don't need to victimize yourself because you are afraid of citizens.
I'm not even sure why you tried to paint a picture that
"Some idiot with an agenda coming for them"
I didn't mess that vocabulary up either you did because you are a coward and scared. Of another officer taking full accountability via press.
I don't hate cops either but there's no way in hell the world shouldn't know the officers name.
Again, I go back to the level of experience, training, the overall qualifications of the officer - shooting at still targets, even at a distance, are one thing in a police shooting range - but what level of qualifications did this policeman have - - based on visibility, weather / wind conditions, barometric pressure, aiming, breathing, trigger control, the gun, bullets, down to the grain, this is important - not just pulling the trigger - a whole bunch of things needed to be calculated if you are shooting from a distance - especially in a hostage situation - you need to be 150% accurate - No guessing or assumptions - just having a scope on a gun - or being a hunter or even in the military - does not count when it comes to putting someone in the sites of a gun. WHAT WERE HIS QUALIFICATIONS?
Both sides and points are very valid. However wouldn't it land on the Joplin police department for putting someone without the right qualifications in place to do a job like that?
The man should definitely have known his own strengths and limits, but that is a man, judging himself. The police department should not have anyone without the correct qualifications anywhere near a hostage situation. Furthermore, shouldn't the state of missouri demand and fund the training for anyone who might be called to take that type of shot. The fact is though, they did not. The father threatened after already murdering one innocent person to do harm to alot more. Which would include his own daughter. Whose to say, that the obviously very unstable man wouldnt have caused alot more deaths had they waited longer? Or that bringing his sister wouldnt have created more casualties?
The officer did what he felt right, and what according to at least Joplin city said he was qualified to do. I am not a fan nor an advocate for the police definitely not Jpd. The fact of the matter is though, that naming the officer will not bring back that poor baby. The only foreseeable outcome if any will be negative and possibly more violence. If people want to act outraged about something, Rowan Fords step dad is running around out here. Not to mention all the child predators that seem to be running around these four corners rampant. Be outraged that our very own president has seriously hindered bringing pedophiles to justice. Take a stand for that!. Not destroying someone who was trying to keep a bad situation from going to worse. Someone who is probably already suffering from his own guilt. Where is the justice in that?
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