KANSAS CITY — Multiple felonies have been filed against a Kansas City area man who fatally shot an Independence police officer and a 16th Circuit Court process server on Thursday, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
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Larry D. Acree, 69, faces two counts of Murder in the 1st Degree, Assault in the 1st Degree for wounding a police officer and three additional counts of Armed Criminal Action charges. Acree remains hospitalized in intensive care and will be moved to the Jackson County Detention Center as soon as he is able, according to Baker. He faces a $2 million bond.
According to court record filed Friday, the process server identified as Drexel Mack had gone to a residence on North Elsea Smith Road in rural Jackson County to evict any person on the property.
On Feb. 23, a “Notice to Vacate” sign was posted at the property, according to the probable cause affidavit. It stemmed from court actions that began one year earlier. Acree “didn't have any right to be there," Baker said.
On Thursday, Mack and another process service arrived at the address to physically evict Acree. Both of the process servers removed a padlock from the gated drive, the statement said.
The two process servers then approached the front of the home, where they knocked and announced their presence. No one answered, so the property maintenance contractor drilled out the lock on the front door, the statement said. They then entered the home and were fired upon. Mack was struck and fell to the floor just inside the front door, court records said.
The other process server ran and sought help, court records said. Independence police then rushed to the home, where three officers entered the home and tried to retrieve Mack. They then came under additional gunfire, court records said.
Allen was struck in the head, and a second officer was struck in the torso, court records said.
Officers then returned fire, and the suspect was taken into custody. The wounded were taken to nearby Centerpoint Medical Hospital, where Mack and Allen were pronounced dead.
The officer struck in the torso underwent surgery and is expected to survive. That officer also sustained additional injuries to the arms and face.
The home where the eviction notice was being served had been sold recently and had delinquent taxes dating to at least 2019, records show.
Acree also had been ordered to pay a roofing company, with $32,155 due as of Aug. 1, according to court records. Records from later that month in the case signaled that a property sale was in the works.
The sale was completed on Aug. 14 for $260,000, with a judgment of $27,733.47 subtracted from the total, records show.
-The AP contributed to this report