KANSAS CITY, Kan. (WDAF) — An Iowa man is looking for the truth after his brother was shot dead by Kansas City, Kansas (KCK) police last week.
John Anderton, 50, was killed Friday after he rode away from a double overdose scene on a bicycle. Both OD victims survived.
Police said some kind of altercation happened between Anderton and the officer leading up to his death. However, Anderton’s younger brother, Eric, has questions. Most of which, he says, have yet to be answered by KCK police.
Eric Anderton drove to Kansas City from Iowa Saturday after learning of his brother’s death. He said he spoke with the police for three hours but ultimately didn’t learn anything since it’s an active investigation.
“[They] couldn’t tell me how many times he was shot, why he was shot. They said there was a gun found,” added Eric.
The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, which is handling the investigation per protocol, claims Anderton had a gun on him at the time. However, they couldn’t say if he showed that gun to officers or threatened them.
Eric said the police told him that the officer was wearing a body camera, which he would like to see.
“I asked the homicide detective why [did they use a] lethal weapon? She had no answers for me,” he said.
After failing to get most of his questions answered by the police, Eric decided to do his own digging. He started by going to his brother’s home, which is the same place where the double overdose occurred.
“Everyone I talked to at that house said my brother was trying to give that [overdosed] man CPR. Once the ambulance and help got there, he left. I have videos of my brother riding his bicycle, not fleeing, riding away,” he said.
Eric tells WDAF-TV his brother was a drug addict who suffered for years.
“He was loved. He was a human being. He had a problem that I couldn’t help him with. I tried,” he said.
Eric also said that the home where the overdose happened is a drug house.
“Even though he did drugs, he would give you the shirt off his back. He was a good-hearted person,” he said.
Police have said that Anderton fled the scene on his bike, which Eric disputes. He sent the video to WDAF-TV that he obtained from a neighbor, which showed a man in red shorts riding a bike away from a scene with first responders. However, WDAF-TV cannot verify if the man in the video is John Anderton.
He also spoke with a different neighbor who claimed to have witnessed the shooting. After hearing about that and telling homicide detectives about what he learned, Eric said he got a lawyer.
Once Kansas City police finish its investigation, it will be handed over to the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office.
As for the officer who shot Anderton, that person’s been put on paid administrative leave, which is KCK police policy.
