Woman shot by Kansas City Police had a gun: body camera footage

A woman whom Kansas City Police shot during an altercation was revealed to have been wielding a pistol, according to body camera footage.

Twenty-six-year-old Leonna Hale sustained three gunshot wounds from local police when authorities approached her over an alleged carjacking. Police spotted Hale inside a vehicle matching the description of one involved in a carjacking, according to the Epoch Times.

The footage shows Hale in possession of a pistol. Two police officers shout for her to drop the gun but she instead appears to point it toward the officers after which they open fire and inflict three wounds.

One eyewitness claimed Hale was unarmed during the shooting, per Epoch, which prompted activist accusations of police excessive use of force.

Authorities, however, argued that the body camera footage debunked such arguments.

“Our review of body cam videos provided the actual accounting of events that night," said Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker in a press release.

“The two officers stated that she was armed with what they believed to be a handgun,” Baker continued. “Body camera footage confirms the officers’ statements that Hale was holding a handgun. Still photos, taken from body cam footage, of this encounter also demonstrate a weapon was present and in the hands of the defendant.”

Hale faces charges of exhibiting a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon, and resisting arrest, according to the prosecutor's office.