Excelsior Springs Police Officer Shot, Suspect Dead

Update 10/02/22 10:31 AM – The suspect is now deceased. He is identified as 65-year-old Carl J. Carrel, a white male from Excelsior Springs.

The officer remains in stable condition but requires additional surgeries.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

Two EPSD officers located a suspect they knew to have a warrant for assault on a law enforcement officer at about 5:12 p.m. today in the parking lot of the Price Chopper located at Kearney and Crown Hill roads in Excelsior Springs. The officers tried to stop the suspect in the parking lot, but he pulled out onto Kearney Road.

Clay County PR Manager Sarah Boyd was on the Scene to Give an Update on the Situation

The ESPD officers, who were in two separate police vehicles, boxed the suspect in with one vehicle in front of the suspect’s and one behind the suspect’s in an attempt to stop him. At that point, the suspect fired at the officer in the vehicle in front of him, striking the officer in the shoulder and wrist. The officer in the vehicle behind the suspect then fired at the suspect, striking him in the head. Both the officer and the suspect who were struck were transported to an area hospital. The officer has non-life-threatening injuries, and the suspect has life-threatening injuries.

*Clay County Sheriff’s Deputies were on hand to offer backup and help in the investigation (photo S Jason Cole).*

Two teenagers from Oak Park, Ava Donnegan (17) and William Dryer (16) had come to Excelsior Springs to do some thrift shopping and found themselves in the middle of the shootout. According to the teens the wounded officer took shelter behind their car while Dryer called 9-1-1. Donnegan, whose father is a nurse, helped apply a tourniquet to help stop the officer’s bleeding. “I put a tourniquet on him, checked to see if his radio was working, and helped him take off his vest… I had blood all over my hands,” said Donnegan, who appeared physically shaken at the scene.

*William Dryer (16) and Ava Donnegan (17) of Oak Park showed great bravery in helping the wounded Excelsior Springs Police Office (photo S Jason Cole).*

Witness Tabitha Cosper said she was at Price Chopper waiting in her vehicle for her family when she saw ESPD pursuing the suspect’s blue and white Ford F150 through the parking lot. “He didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry to get away… at one point he drove right past my car and I got a good look at him,” she said. She described the suspect as a middle-aged man in his late 40s or early 50s. She said officers would pull their vehicles in front of the suspect to attempt to get him to stop and each time he would back up and head in a different direction. He did this several times before he made it out onto Kearney Road and headed west. As the suspect approached the stoplight at the intersection of Kearney and Corum Roads one officer pulled in front of the F150 and another pulled in behind him, boxing him in. According to other eyewitnesses on the scene, the suspect rammed his vehicle into the lead police car a couple of times before coming to a stop. That’s when the officer in the lead vehicle exited his car and approached the suspect’s vehicle. As he moved towards the suspect’s truck he was shot in the right shoulder and also in his hand/wrist. The second officer moved in and shot the suspect “striking him in the head,” according to Clay County PR manager Sarah Boyd.

At last report, the officer was in good spirits and headed into surgery. Updates will be made as they become available.

*The suspect’s white and blue Ford F150 was boxed in by ESPD vehicles (photo S Jason Cole).*

** We previously stated that the suspect was 64 years old based on a press release sent out by the Clay Co. Sheriff’s office. They later corrected his age to 65 and we have made the update to our story.