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Cody Levi Harrison

Age : 33

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 09/15/2021

Location : 2400 Northern Blvd

City : Independence

County : Jackson

State : Missouri

Agency : Independence Police Department

Officer(s) :Joshua Gena

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during shooting incident

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/15/2021, Independence Police Department Field Training Officer Joshua Gena shot and killed 33-year-old Cody Levi Harrison inside the garage of a residence in the 2300 block of South Northern Boulevard. Harrison simultaneously shot and critically wounded 22-year-old Independence Officer Blaize Madrid-Evans, who died at a hospital later that evening. A later Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation identified Gena as the officer who fired the fatal police gunfire.
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The encounter began after Independence police received an anonymous tip that Harrison, who was wanted, was staying at the residence. The underlying reason for the attempted arrest is therefore identifiable: Harrison had an outstanding Jackson County warrant issued on 09/13/2021 after he failed to appear in court in connection with burglary and stealing charges arising from a 2020 Grain Valley case. He was also on parole from an earlier firearms conviction.
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Four Independence officers went to the residence. Officer Cody Burch was dispatched as the primary officer for the residence check. Master Patrol Officer David Wehlermann arrived first and waited for Burch, Gena and Madrid-Evans before they approached. Madrid-Evans was still in field training, and Gena was his field training officer.
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Gena and Madrid-Evans initially spoke with another man in the driveway and asked about Harrison. They then saw Harrison inside an attached garage. According to Gena's subsequent statement to Missouri State Highway Patrol investigators, Harrison had both hands in the pockets of his shorts. Gena drew his service handgun while Madrid-Evans approached Harrison.
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Police alleged that Harrison told Madrid-Evans, "I'm not going back," stepped backward, pulled a handgun from his pocket and shot Madrid-Evans from only a few feet away. Gena then opened fire on Harrison, killing him inside the garage.
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Madrid-Evans was struck in the head. The other officers carried him from the scene to a patrol vehicle, and he was transported to Centerpoint Medical Center, where he died shortly before 6 p.m. Harrison died at the scene. The medical examination documented bullets or bullet fragments recovered from eight locations in Harrison's body.
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The subsequent investigation produced considerably more information than was available in the initial news reports. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined that the handgun attributed to Harrison was stolen. Investigators also interviewed people who had been at the residence, some of whom reported using methamphetamine with Harrison that morning. According to the investigative file, Harrison had reportedly been awake for several days and had told acquaintances that he intended to engage police with gunfire rather than return to prison. These claims came from witness interviews and investigative records and should be distinguished from independently observed facts.
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The case also exposed an important sequence immediately preceding Harrison's death. Kansas City police had arrested Harrison on 09/02/2021 for investigation of felon in possession of a firearm and recovered a handgun during that arrest. KCPD released him pending further investigation and submitted the case to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office on 09/07/2021. Prosecutors said they did not receive it until 09/09/2021, by which time Harrison had already been released.
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Separately, Harrison failed to appear in the pending Grain Valley burglary case, resulting in the warrant issued two days before the fatal encounter. Thus, when Independence police received the anonymous tip on September 15, they were attempting to locate and arrest Harrison on an active warrant rather than conducting a routine investigative contact.
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The Missouri State Highway Patrol conducted the investigation of the fatal shooting rather than leaving Independence police to determine whether Gena's shooting was legally justified. MSHP completed its investigative file and suspended the investigation pending prosecutorial review on 11/29/2021.
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The Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office completed that review on 03/01/2022 and declined criminal charges against Gena or anyone else in connection with Harrison's death, determining that Gena's use of deadly force was justified.
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The later investigative record therefore resolves several gaps in the original 2021 reporting. Joshua Gena was the officer who killed Harrison; Madrid-Evans did not fire the fatal police gunfire; four Independence officers were present; Harrison was being sought on an active warrant; and the shooting was subsequently investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and reviewed by the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Joshua Gena was the Independence Police Department field training officer who shot and killed Cody Harrison. Madrid-Evans, whom Harrison allegedly shot during the encounter, was Gena's trainee and had graduated from the police academy only two months earlier. Because Madrid-Evans was still in field training, Gena was the senior officer directly supervising him during the attempted arrest.
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Gena later became a named defendant in litigation arising from a separate fatal Independence police pursuit. On 03/22/2023, Jake Monteer and Jessica Fields were killed after a fleeing vehicle struck Monteer's motorcycle during an Independence police pursuit. Monteer's parents sued the City of Independence and officers Joshua Gena, Robert Romey, Jeremie Stauch and Eric Simpson.
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The lawsuit alleged that Gena and the other officers failed to follow Independence Police Department pursuit policy and negligently handled the operation. Specifically, the complaint alleged that Gena failed to communicate with a supervisor and that officers effectively "freelanced" their response after locating an allegedly stolen Jeep. The lawsuit also challenged officers' decisions concerning the pursuit and deployment of stop sticks. These are civil allegations and do not establish that Gena committed misconduct, but they constitute a later documented fatal police-encounter case in which his conduct was specifically challenged.
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The Independence Police Department itself had significant documented use-of-force history at the time Harrison was killed. Only months before this shooting, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its May 2021 decision in the Bryce Masters case. Masters had sued Independence Officer Timothy Runnels for excessive force after Runnels used a Taser during a traffic stop. A jury found for Masters and awarded compensatory and punitive damages, and the appellate court ultimately restored a $425,700 punitive-damages award against Runnels.
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The department also became the subject of a city investigation in early 2022 over alleged misuse of overtime funds. A whistleblower reported that a department employee had received substantial overtime compensation while performing construction work at police headquarters during 2021, the same year as Harrison's shooting. The City of Independence opened an investigation into the department's overtime practices.
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These institutional matters are not evidence that Gena's shooting of Harrison was improper. In Harrison's case, the available investigative record presents unusually strong evidence supporting the conclusion that Gena fired after Harrison shot Madrid-Evans at close range, and an outside MSHP investigation followed by prosecutorial review resulted in no criminal charges against Gena.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.kmbc.com/article/independence-police-officer-shot-suspect-killed/37612554
https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/independence-police-officer-shot-suspect-killed
https://www.fox4kc.com/news/independence-police-officer-shot-suspect-killed/
https://www.kmbc.com/article/independence-police-officer-involved-shooting-1631729795-1631748065/37614347
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/mshp-report-sheds-new-light-on-deadly-shooting-of-independence-officer
https://www.kmbc.com/article/suspect-cody-harrison-independence-police-officers-death-had-long-criminal-history/37624768
https://www.kmbc.com/article/kcpd-prosecutors-office-releases-joint-statement-on-cody-harrison-independence-officer-blaize-madrid-evans/37638115
https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/man-who-killed-independence-police-officer-paroled-twice
https://www.kctv5.com/2023/11/15/lawsuit-claims-negligence-police-officers-improper-training-led-fatal-independence-crash/
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/19-2242/19-2242-2021-05-27.html
https://www.kmbc.com/article/independence-missouri-investigation-police-department-overtime/38972820