Killing of John Albers

On January 20, 2018, a friend of 17-year-old John Albers called 911 to report that Albers had "been taking pills and drinking" and that "[he] was done with life and threatened to hurt himself". When the officers arrived at the Albers residence, they waited outside the house for a few minutes before waiting for other officers before approaching. Officer Jenison parked down the street, walked up to the house, walked in the front yard, and was approaching the garage door when it began to open. John had opened the garage and was backing out of his garage in his mom's Honda Odyssey minivan when one of the officers reportedly yelled, "Stop, stop, stop!" After Albers failed to stop, Officer Jenison felt that his life was in danger and fired two rounds from his department-issued sidearm. However, the van then did a 180-degree turn somewhat in reverse, and then Officer Jenison fired 11 more rounds, having fired 13 rounds total. The van then rolled down the driveway and into the street before stopping across the street in another house's front yard. The officers then approached the van to give aid to John following the shooting, but the injuries would prove to be fatal. John Albers was declared dead on the scene and had been shot multiple times by Officer Jenison.^[5][6]

Albers parents filed a federal lawsuit against Officer Jenison and the City of Overland Park.^[5] In January 2019, his parents announced they had agreed to a $2.3 million settlement from the city.^[7]

Officer Jenison resigned from the department in March 2018. He received an $81,040 buyout package, which included $70,000 for severance pay and an additional $11,040 for his regular salary. Jenison was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe and Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez.^[8][9][10]

On September 22, 2020, the FBI opened a federal civil rights investigation into the incident.^[11][12] The FBI closed the investigation almost two years later with no additional action.^[13]

On April 26, 2021, several faith leaders with the Metropolitan Organization for Racial and Economic Equality (stylized "MORE2", pronounced "MORE-squared") joined Sheila Albers in a press conference calling for the termination of Chief Frank Donchez. They expressed an overall “lack of confidence in the leadership of our police”. Ms. Albers said that she and her husband had "listened to city leadership engage in telling lies or omitting information" for 3+1⁄2 years. The MORE2 open letter stated that "when threats from white nationalists emerged [in July 2020], Donchez chose to crack down on protestors rather than to stand up to extremists. We cannot accept bending to the demands of white nationalists.” It was also reported that white nationalists had complained to the police about nonviolent protestors they called "terrorists", after which the Overland Park police arrested three black men and one white woman at a subsequent nonviolent protest, charging one of the black men with a felony. City Councilman Chris Newlin added, "The Chief mentioned that Proud Boys were going to show up. It was unfortunate that protestors were arrested." At the time of this MORE2 press conference, one of those white nationalists was reportedly "in custody for his role in the [January 6, 2021] attack on our own Capitol".^[4]