Family of man killed by Lenexa officer sues city, months after prosecutor ruled shooting justified

LENEXA, Kan. (KCTV) - The family of a man shot and killed by the Lenexa Police Department in 2025 is now suing the city and two officers.

Jose Enrique Cartagena-Chacon, 24, of Grandview, was shot and killed by Lenexa police early on June 22, 2025, after officers approached him as he sat in his car in the apartment complex parking lot.

What the lawsuit alleges

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, names the City of Lenexa, Officer Nicholas Gaul, Officer Alexander Clark and unnamed additional officers as defendants.

The suit argues the shooting was unjustified - months after the Johnson County District Attorney cleared the officers involved.

According to the lawsuit, Cartagena-Chacon was asleep in his car when officers approached with weapons drawn.

The suit claims officers never identified themselves as police and shouted commands in English - including “I’m going to shoot you right now” - despite Cartagena-Chacon having limited English proficiency.

The lawsuit alleges Gual fired at least eight rounds into the vehicle without legal justification, striking Cartagena-Chacon multiple times. He was pronounced deceased at a hospital.

The complaint disputes officers’ accounts that Cartagena-Chacon threatened them with a gun, noting the object in his lap was a pellet gun with no live ammunition that he never pointed at officers.

The suit brings nine counts, including excessive deadly force, unlawful seizure, failure to intervene, assault and battery, wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and demands a jury trial.

The DA’s findings - a conflicting account

The lawsuit’s version of events conflicts with the findings of a four-month investigation by Johnson County District Attorney Serve Howe, who announced in October 2025 that the shooting was legally justified.

According to Howe’s investigation, a 911 caller reported a man shooting at another person near the pool at Lenexa Crossings Apartments around 3 a.m.

Howe says the officers arriving on scene saw a handgun on Cartagena-Chacon’s lap and ordered him to keep his hands visible.

Investigators claim he then picked up the weapon and pointed it toward an officer, prompting a second officer to open fire.

The weapon was identified as a .177-caliber Umarex Walther PPQ CO2-powered pellet gun with a removable magazine and movable slide - a model investigators say is visually identical to a real semi-automatic handgun.

Under Kansas law, that type of pellet gun is classified as a firearm.

An autopsy found Cartagena-Chacon had a blood alcohol level of .248 - roughly three times the legal limit to drive.

Investigators indicate that witnesses told them he had brandished the gun earlier that night and made threatening statements to people at the pool, including pressing it against a woman’s chest.

Lenexa Police Chief Dawn Layman has defended the officers’ split-second decision, saying, “You have a very narrow window to make a decision when that move that weapon over, knowing that my partner is on this side, I don’t know what he’s gonna do. I am not gonna wait because we could be here on a very different situation. We could’ve had an officer funeral.”

Family’s response

Family attorney Thomas Bowers III has disputed the DA’s conclusion, arguing officers did not identify themselves and gave Cartagena-Chacon only about 10 seconds to react.

The lawsuit states, “Because of their status as law enforcement officers, Defendants Gaul and Clark have not been held accountable for their actions. No criminal charges were ever filed, and they have not even been removed from the Lenexa Police Department.”

Because the matter is now subject to pending litigation, both the Lenexa Police Department and City of Lenexa say they do not have a comment.

A hearing date has not yet been set. No further information has been made available.