Ronald Aubrey, 64, was fatally shot by Kansas City, Missouri, police officers at a bus stop near Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard and the Paseo Boulevard on July 24, 2025. His family has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department, arguing officers gunned him down as he ran away rather than facing any real threat to their safety. An autopsy showed Aubrey was shot in the back, and the lawsuit describes the weapon he carried that day as a toy gun.
According to KSHB 41 Kansas City, attorney John Picerno, who represents Aubrey’s family, says the shooting was a tragedy that could have been avoided. Picerno contends Aubrey ran away from officers without ever stopping or pointing a gun at them, and that footage contradicts the official account that he aimed a weapon at police. The Kansas City Missouri Police Department, named as a defendant in the suit, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Dueling Accounts From the Scene
Police were called to the intersection on July 24, 2025, after reports that a man was pointing a gun at passing traffic, per the outlet’s account. Officers found Aubrey sitting at the bus stop, where he appeared to tell them he had a gun by pointing at his waistband. One responding officer later said he feared for his own safety and that of fellow officers.
Robert Russell, who called 911 to report the confrontation, said Aubrey ran while pointing a gun back at the two responding officers and separately held the gun toward an ambulance passing through the intersection. Officers claimed Aubrey ran around the bus stop enclosure toward one of them. Russell said afterward that police did what they had to do…