A Kansas City Police Department officer-involved shooting took place last Tuesday, March 19 in Platte County.
The shooting happened around 10 a.m. near Polo and Ambassador Drives, Kansas City in Platte County, east of I-29 near a hotel in the KCI corridor.
Two KCPD officers were responding to a call regarding the possible violation of an ex parte order of protection filed against the female suspect, identified as Zina Sokoli, 41, of Kansas City in Platte County.
An ex parte order of protection is filed when a court deems someone an immediate and present danger of domestic violence, stalking, etc., to the person who filed the petition.
According to charges described in court documents, two KCPD officers spotted and confronted the woman, who they identified as the respondent of the protection order. The woman was walking along Polo Drive.
Police say the woman refused to comply with officers’ orders. According to the allegations, the woman became hostile and began screaming at officers while refusing to remove her right hand from her coat pocket. Officers say they made repeated attempts to verbally de-escalate the situation for nearly five minutes.
As Sokoli allegedly became more and more irate, officers took positions behind their respective vehicles, according to court papers.
According to court documents, video shows Sokoli suddenly pulled a handgun from her right pocket and pointed it at one of the officers. The other officer then discharged his weapon nine times, striking Sokoli in the lower right abdomen and she fell to the ground.
Officers took Sokoli into custody and began rendering aid while they waited for EMS to arrive. Sokoli was transported to North Kansas City Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Crime scene technicians processed the scene, and according to court documents, found the suspect’s weapon to be chambered in .380, with an empty magazine, and the slide locked to the rear.
Two shell casings were located in the area of where Sokoli was taken into custody, according to investigators.
After being discharged from the hospital the same day, Sokoli was transported to police headquarters for an interview with detectives. Sokoli declined to make a statement and requested to speak to a lawyer at 2:09 p.m.
She remains in the Platte County Jail and is charged with first degree assault/or attempted assault upon a special victim, and armed criminal action. Both charges are felonies. She is being held without bond.
