Court documents say woman accused of fatally stabbing Kansas City paramedic tried to steal ambulance
WEEK. THIS IS BREAKING NEWS FROM KMBC NINE. WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS. A KANSAS CITY FIREFIGHTER PARAMEDIC IS DEAD AFTER BEING STABBED IN THE LINE OF DUTY. THANKS FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. I’M JACKSON KURTZ GRAHAM HOFFMAN WAS JUST 29 YEARS OLD. HE HAD BEEN WITH KCFD FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI POLICE ARRESTED THE SUSPECT, SHANITA BAZZELL. SHE FACES SEVERAL CHARGES, INCLUDING FIRST DEGREE MURDER AND ARMED CRIMINAL ACTION. IT HAPPENED AFTER FIREFIGHTERS WENT TO THE AREA OF NORTH OAK, TRAFFICWAY AND HIGHWAY 152 AROUND 1 A.M. THIS MORNING TO RESPOND TO A MEDICAL CALL. AS THEY WERE HELPING BAZZELL, THEY SAY SHE STABBED HOFFMAN IN THE CHEST, PIERCING HIS HEART. POLICE ARRESTED BAZZELL AND EMS TOOK HOFFMAN TO NORTH KANSAS CITY HOSPITAL. HE DIED THIS AFTERNOON. EARLIER TODAY, KCPD AND KCFD LED A PROCESSION FROM NORTH KANSAS CITY HOSPITAL TO THE MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE IN KANSAS CITY, KANSAS. THERE WAS A FULL ESCORT WITH OFFICERS ON MOTORCYCLES AND AMBULANCES. AFTER THIS, THE CLAY COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE TO UPDATE PEOPLE ON THE SITUATION. KMBC NINE DORISSA WHITE WAS THERE AND JOINS US NOW LIVE TONIGHT. DORISSA SO MUCH MORE INFORMATION. WHAT MORE DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SUSPECT? YEAH. JACKSON. WELL, WE’VE SINCE LEARNED MORE DETAILS SINCE THAT PRESS CONFERENCE. WE LEARNED THE SUSPECT’S NAME AND WE LEARNED HER LENGTHY CRIMINAL RAP SHEET. AND NOW THE ONLY QUESTION REMAINS IS HOW DID A ROUTINE TRANSPORT TURN DEADLY? POLICE TELL US AROUND 1 A.M. KCPD AND KCFD WAS DISPATCHED TO SEND SOMEONE THAT WAY FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION. THEY TELL US THAT THEY ARRIVED ON SCENE AND SAW A WOMAN. WE NOW KNOW AS SHANITA. BASEL, PICTURED HERE WALKING ON THE SHOULDER OF HIGHWAY 152 NEAR OAK TRAFFICWAY. SHE HAD A LACERATION TO HER FINGER WHILE BEING TRANSPORTED. THINGS TURNED DEADLY ASAP. MY PARTNER WAS STABBED. IN A PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE CLAY COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE, THEY DETAIL THE TURN OF EVENTS. OUR OFFICE WILL USE ALL LEGAL, MORAL AND ETHICAL TOOLS AT OUR DISPOSAL TO ENSURE JUSTICE FOR GRAHAM. HIS FAMILY, AND OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY. THEY SAY THE AMBULANCE THEY WERE FOLLOWING BEHIND PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. OFFICERS SAY THEY WITNESSED A STRUGGLE BETWEEN BASEL AND KCFD. PARAMEDIC GRAHAM HOFFMAN. OFFICERS CALLED FOR MORE ASSISTANCE MAY 14TH. AS A CREW MEMBER BEEN STABBED AFTER REALIZING GRAHAM HAD BEEN STABBED IN THE CHEST DURING THE STRUGGLE. LIFESAVING EFFORTS WERE PERFORMED IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM AND HE WAS PLACED IN THE ICU, WHERE HE LATER SUCCUMBED TO HIS INJURIES. NOW THE QUESTION REMAINS HOW A ROUTINE TRANSPORT TURNED FATAL. THIS IS SOMETHING TOTALLY NEW FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO HAVE THIS SORT OF VIOLENT ACT. IT’S NOT UNCOMMON TO HAVE A PATIENT MAYBE BE UNRULY. IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE. SOMETIMES THINGS ARE GOING ON, BUT TO HAVE SOMETHING OF THIS EXTENT IS I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT. NOW, THE CLAY COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE SAYS THAT SHANITA BASEL IS BEING HELD ON A $1 MILLION BOND. REPORTING LIVE IN LIBERTY DORISSA WHITE KMBC NINE NEWS. ALL RIGHT. THERESA. THANK YOU. AND AS THERESA MENTIONED, THIS IS NOT BASEL’S FIRST RUN IN WITH THE LAW. SHE WAS CHARGED JUST LAST WEEK IN CONNECTION WITH ALLEGEDLY ATTACKING AN OFF-DUTY OFFICER. THE OFFICER SAID HE ATTEMPTED TO DETAIN BASEL, WHO ALLEGEDLY RESISTED, GRABBED HIS HANDCUFFS AND TRIED MULTIPLE TIMES TO REACH FOR A KNIFE ATTACHED TO HIS CHEST. HIS VEST, WHILE ATTEMPTING TO CALL FOR HELP ON HIS POLICE RADIO. THE OFFICER REPORTED THAT BASEL BIT H
Court documents say woman accused of fatally stabbing Kansas City paramedic tried to steal ambulance
Updated: 3:30 PM CDT Apr 28, 2025
Charging documents are shedding new details in the death of Kansas City firefighter-paramedic Graham Hoffman.Prosecutors charged Shanetta Bossell on Sunday with first-degree murder and several other offenses.A probable cause statement released Monday said officers were called around 12:40 a.m. to Missouri 152 Highway and North Oak Trafficway for a welfare check.They found Bossell, 39, walking along the highway with a bleeding finger.Paramedics evaluated her at the scene, and after initially refusing help, she agreed to be transported to a hospital.Police officers followed the ambulance as it left the scene. Around 1:25 a.m., the ambulance pulled over near Platte Purchase Drive with its emergency lights activated.Court documents say officers saw the ambulance driver run to the back of the vehicle, where a struggle was underway between Bossell and Hoffman. Bossell allegedly tried to drive away in the ambulance but was stopped by officers after a struggle, during which she also bit an officer on the arm.Bossell had previously been charged with assaulting a police officer in Clay County, where she’s also accused of biting an officer in that incident. Detectives recovered a knife inside the ambulance, and blood was found throughout the back of the vehicle and on nearby medical equipment.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Charging documents are shedding new details in the death of Kansas City firefighter-paramedic Graham Hoffman.
Prosecutors charged Shanetta Bossell on Sunday with first-degree murder and several other offenses.
A probable cause statement released Monday said officers were called around 12:40 a.m. to Missouri 152 Highway and North Oak Trafficway for a welfare check.
They found Bossell, 39, walking along the highway with a bleeding finger.
Paramedics evaluated her at the scene, and after initially refusing help, she agreed to be transported to a hospital.
Police officers followed the ambulance as it left the scene.
Around 1:25 a.m., the ambulance pulled over near Platte Purchase Drive with its emergency lights activated.
Court documents say officers saw the ambulance driver run to the back of the vehicle, where a struggle was underway between Bossell and Hoffman.
Bossell allegedly tried to drive away in the ambulance but was stopped by officers after a struggle, during which she also bit an officer on the arm.
Bossell had previously been charged with assaulting a police officer in Clay County, where she’s also accused of biting an officer in that incident.
Detectives recovered a knife inside the ambulance, and blood was found throughout the back of the vehicle and on nearby medical equipment.
