Paul Thompson
Northeast News
June 2, 2017

UPDATED: June 6, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Titan Protection and Consulting officers earned their ‘Avenue Angels’ nickname on Thursday, June 1, when they served as the first responders in a scary shooting incident outside of an Independence Avenue Subway.

The incident began just after 4 p.m. with an argument between two men outside of the Historic Northeast business. According to a police report obtained by the Northeast News, witnesses observed the two men arguing in the parking lot. Eventually, one of the men lifted up his shirt, pulled out a handgun, and fired off one shot. The suspect then got into a gray Grand Am and headed eastbound on Independence Avenue.

Ryan Bean, a Titan bicycle patrol officer, was responding to another incident at the 1900 block of Independence Avenue when he got a call from the concerned employee of the sandwich shop. At first the employee described a fight that was occurring outside of the business, but within seconds the incident turned more dire, and the employee began screaming that one of the individuals had pulled a gun.

“She was screaming on the phone, ‘Oh my God he has a gun, he has a gun,'” Bean recalled. “Right after that, we heard the pop of the gun.”

Bean was only a block and a half away when he heard the gunshots ring through the air. Operating on a mixture of instinct and adrenaline, Bean and two fellow Titan Security officers rushed to the scene. Upon arrival, the security officers secured the area, ensuring that the assailant was no longer on the scene. From there, Bean was able to put his EMT training to good use as he tended to the victim, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper thigh.

“Immediately when I arrived on scene, my objective was to clear it and make sure the shooter was not still there, and that everyone inside the building was safe,” said fellow Titan CID patrol officer Daniel Williams. “After we cleared the scene, Officer Bean started administering first aid. Probably about a minute afterwards, KCPD was on scene. About five minutes after that, EMS was on scene.”

Bean worked quickly to find the gunshot wound and determine if there was a clean exit wound. Then he worked with KCPD officers who had arrived on the scene to cut the victim’s pants away and start applying pressure to the wound.

“When I saw the guy on the ground, training kicked in just like that.I knew he had a gunshot wound to the leg, and we had to stop the bleeding,” Bean said. “After he was transported and the whole thing was wrapped up, there was that kind of realization like, ‘Wow!’ It hit pretty hard for the first few minutes.”

“When I got the call, my first impression was, ‘Oh my God, he’s got a gun. Who’d he hurt? Where’s he at? We’ve got to get there now,” Bean added. “It’s nerve-wracking, not knowing if you’re going to walk into a firefight, or how many people you’re going to find on the ground.”

Williams also reflected on what was going through his head during those frenetic minutes between the initial phone call and when the authorities arrived at the scene.

“What was going through my mind was, ‘We’ve got to get down there fast, clear the scene, and try to keep everyone as safe as possible,'” Williams said. “Our arrival time from the 1900 block was approximately 30 seconds, less than a minute.”

Despite the prompt response, Williams still had one regret after the dust had settled.

You always want to do more and it sucks when they get away, but we do what we can,” Williams said. “Our arrival time was pretty quick as it was.”

Independence Avenue CID Manager Bobbi Baker-Hughes had no such regrets following the scary incident. In her opinion, the Avenue Angels went above and beyond what they are contracted to do when they rushed to the crime scene and administered first aid to a gunshot victim.

“They worked on saving somebody’s life,” Baker-Hughes said. “They just did an outstanding job, and I’m very proud of what they did yesterday and what they do every day.”

The KCPD investigation led to the recovery of a white-handled knife and a .40 Caliber Smith & Wesson shell casing.