John

John Albers

John Albers

17-year-old teenager

In January 2018, officers from Overland Park, Kansas, killed 17-year-old John Albers, who suffers from mental health problems. The teenager posted messages with suicidal thoughts on social networks, and his friends called the police to check on him.

The officers who arrived at the scene reported that as soon as they arrived at Albers ‘ house, the garage door began to open, and a minibus drove out, driven by a teenager. The officers considered that they were in imminent danger, took out their service weapons and fired more than 13 times at the car. The teenager died on the spot. Police later released a 500-page report that included statements from officers about the events of that evening, but Albers ‘ family said they doubted the integrity of the report, in which the officer appears as the victim, not the killer.

Relatives of the teenager filed a lawsuit against the city and the police department, the FBI has launched its own investigation into the case. In June 2021, the Overland Park Police Department released photos from the scene of a fatal shooting in January 2018.