A criminal affidavit reveals new details about the investigation into a shooting that occurred outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park earlier this month.
Nobody was injured in the incident. Investigators say the suspect, Dmarieon L. Matthews, 22, of Kansas City, Missouri, fired a single shot at the ground during an argument with a woman outside the clinic, as anti-abortion protesters looked on and shouted at Matthews.
Matthews now faces multiple felony accounts related to the incident, including aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon.
911 call on a Saturday morning
The affidavit, requested from Johnson County District Court by the Post, says a security officer working for Planned Parenthood called police at about 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 14, to report a disturbance in the parking lot outside the clinic.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains in Overland Park is located at 4401 W. 109th St.
The security officer told police that one of the people involved in the disturbance appeared to have a gun.
According to the affidavit, it says the security officer, whose name is redacted, was speaking to police dispatchers on the phone when they “indicated shots had been fired.”
Responding Overland Park police officers found the alleged suspect vehicle stopped near the clinic, on the entrance ramp to eastbound Interstate 435 from Roe Avenue.
“A felony car stop was conducted, and one male and one female were detained,” the affidavit read.
Police identified the male suspect as Matthews.
Two handguns, marijuana and children in the car
After detaining Matthews and the female passenger, who is not named in the affidavit, police found two young children in the backseat of the car without proper safety restraints.
The affidavit says one child was wearing the vehicle’s seatbelt and no child booster seat, and the other child “slipped out of the seatbelt during contact and moved freely about the car.”
Police searched the car and found two Glock handguns and marijuana in the front seat area.
One of the handguns was found “wedged between the driver’s seat and center console,” and another was found under the front passenger’s seat, which the woman claimed to own.
During a search of the car’s trunk, officers located a child booster seat that police installed before releasing the woman and children.
Shot fired at ground outside clinic
Officers read Matthews his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit, and then “Matthews stated that he drove [redacted female’s name] to Planned Parenthood and they were involved in a verbal argument that culminated in [female’s name] refusing to exit the vehicle even though she had an appointment at the location.”
The affidavit goes on to say that Matthews told police that as he stood outside of the car outside the clinic, still arguing with the woman who was sitting in the passenger’s seat, protesters “began to yell statements of disapproval at Matthews, and exhibited noise via air horns at him.”
Protesters there that day were from the organization AIM KS, which stands for Abortion Is Murder, an anti-abortion group that routinely pickets outside the Overland Park clinic.
The criminal affidavit says Matthews, aggravated by the noise of the protesters, admitted to removing a handgun from his waistline with his right hand and pointing it into the air while he “aggressively told protesters to leave him alone.”
According to the affidavit, Matthews then returned to the driver’s side of the car and fired one shot into a nearby earthen berm.
The details recounted in the affidavit largely match the account given by AIM KS in their own press release after the incident.
In their press release, AIM KS said, “According to witnesses, the man became visibly agitated while hearing Christians proclaiming the Gospel. He first pointed a gun directly at one of the abolitionists and then brandished it in the air before firing a single shot toward the ground near a dirt berm approximately 30 yards from the abolitionist group. Witnesses moved to safety immediately.”
Police reviewed surveillance video with Planned Parenthood security, which the affidavit says corroborated the order of events described by Matthews, but also included him pointing the gun in the direction of protesters.
Officers also spoke to one protester, whose name is redacted from the affidavit, who said that the gun being pointed in his direction caused “quite a bit of fear.”
Planned Parenthood Great Plains security put the building on lockdown immediately after the incident.
In a statement soon after the incident, Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Emily Wales said they are grateful that everyone is safe.
“We deeply appreciate the swift response from our on-site security team and local law enforcement, whose actions helped ensure the safety of our staff, patients, and community,” Wales said.
Matthews now faces felony charges
Matthews has since been charged in Johnson County District Court with three felonies and one misdemeanor.
His felony charges include aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated child endangerment.
The misdemeanor charge is for possession of marijuana, which the affidavit says Matthews told police that he thought was legal because it was less than one ounce.
Online Johnson County Sheriff’s Office records show Matthews remains in custody at the New Century Adult Detention Center on a $50,000 bond.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m.
