HARVEY COUNTY – A Kansas police officer has been cleared in a fatal officer involved shooting.

On Monday, the Harvey County Attorney David Yoder issued a final report clearing Newton Police Corporal Levi Minkevitch in the February 23, fatal shooting of David Montano.
Just after 12:30 a.m. that day, Newton Police and Harvey County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of a shooting in the 2100 block of North Spencer in Newton.

Arriving officers found three people Michael Lemons, 34; Nelton Dean Lemons, 36; and Jason Stubby, 36 had been murdered.
Officers observed a suspect David Lee Montano outside the residence. When officers attempted to apprehend him, he fled on foot. Officers chased and when Montano showed a gun, officer Minkevitch shot and killed him, according to Yoder.
Below is the final report of the findings by the County Attorney
Final Report: Officer-Involved Shooting ofDavid Montano
This is the final report ofthe evidentiary review by the Harvey County Attorney Office involving the fatal shooting of David Montano on February 23, 2017.
In the preparation of this report, the undersigned reviewed all reports of law enforcement agencies involved in the case, noting the involvement ofnumerous law enforcement officers from the Newton Police Department, the Harvey County Sheriff Office, the North Newton Police Department, the Hesston Police Department, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). The undersigned personally reviewed the 36 written reports provided by the KBI, as well as 21 digital disks of evidence accumulated by their agency.
The undersigned is satisfied that the following facts are conclusively supported by multiple law enforcement and eyewitness accounts ofthe night in question.
At 12:32 am on February 23, 2017, Harvey County Dispatch received a 911 call from an unidentified female reporting a person or persons being shot, and that there was a manatthescenewithagun. Thefemalewastheninterruptedinhercommunicationwith Dispatch. The telephone line remained open, and the dispatcher heard background sounds of a female or females moaning and crying. The dispatcher then heard a male voice take over the phone and state to the dispatcher, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you.” The male then disconnected the 911 call.
Dispatch immediately notified law enforcement officers to respond to the scene of a possible active shooter, and tracked the source of the call as coming from 2111 North Spencer Road in Newton.
Local law enforcement agencies responded quickly and in force, with officers from the Newton Police Department, the Harvey County Sheriff Office, the North Newton Police Department, and the Hesston Police Department responding to the scene.
These same agencies were already on high alert due to having experienced multiple homicides prior to this event, responding to the mass shooting at the Excel plant in Hesston Kansas on February 25, 2016, and the triple homicide occurring on Spring Lake Road west ofHesston on October 30, 2016.
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The following timeline ensued, with the primary focus on the two officers who eventually confronted David Montano:
12:33-12:37 am: Multiple law enforcement officers from the Newton Police Department, Harvey County Sheriff Office, North Newton Police Department, and Hesston Police Department arrived on scene in marked law enforcement vehicles, equipped with lights and sirens activated. This included Newton Police Department Cpls. Tony Hawpe and Levi Minkevitch. Cpl. Minkevitch was wearing the official Newton Police Department blue uniform consisting of blue short sleeve utility shirt, blue utility pants, and black boots. His shirt contained a US flag patch on the right shoulder, a Newton Police Department patch on the left shoulder, and silver in color epaulettes on both left and right collars. He was also wearing his department-issued utility belt and body armor. The body armor was worn on the outside of the utility shirt, and contained an official Newton PD silver colored police badge on the left chest and his name pin on his right chest. The lower right portion of the body armor contained a blue and black colored US flag patch, and on the back in large white letters was the word “POLICE”. Cpl. Hawpe wore similar clothing, including Newton Police Department issued tactical vest body armor, marked in the same fashion, but also having the identification “K-9” on the front and back.
Upon approaching the access road to 2111 N. Spencer Road, both Cpls Hawpe and Minkevitch observed, parked on Spencer Road near the intersection of Old Trail Road, a pickup truck which they recognized from prior law enforcement contacts as belonging to David Montano. Upon arrival on Spencer Road near the access road to the residence, law enforcement officers began a plan of approach to the residence. They expressed concerns of a concealed active shooter possibly hiding in the heavily wooded area surrounding the buildings on the property. The law enforcement officers divided into teams in order to tactically navigate the driveway to the residence.
At 12:41 am, Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch began their approach from the east and south of the residence, approaching through the trees and grassy area south of the residential buildings. They reached a blue van parked in front of the main residence as other officer teams also reached the residential area. This location consisted of multiple buildings surrounded by trees and fields. Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch observed other law enforcement officers making entry into the primary residential building, and they continued moving west on the south side ofthe residence in order to cover the buildings and clear the exterior. Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch located another car, facing north, and took cover on the west side ofthe vehicle. They remained at that location to cover the house while other officers worked the interior.
While at that location, Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch heard law enforcement radio traffic reporting there were injured victims inside the residence, along with survivors, and that the suspect was David Montano. Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch are familiar with David Montano from prior law enforcement contacts, and know him to be heavily involved in the use and distribution of controlled substances, and has been known to be violent toward law enforcement officers in the past, as well as possessing firearms.
A t 12:47 am, North Newton Deputy Chief James Bethards, who was located inside the residence, radioed that David Montano is the suspect of the shootings and that he had fled out of the rear of the residence.
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At 12:50 am, North Newton Deputy ChiefBethards radioed that witnesses reported David Montano had fled the residence approximately five or six minutes ago.
At 12:51 am, Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch receive radio reports that Montano is suspected to be armed with a double-barreled shotgun and a .38 caliber handgun.
At 12:52 am, Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch receive radio traffic advising a “code black”, meaning a deceased person, inside the residence.
At 12:55 am, Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch receive radio reports that Montano may be in possession ofnight vision goggles.
At 12:56 am, Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch heard radio traffic requesting a thermal imager.
At 12:58 am, two law enforcement officers exited the exterior ofthe northwest part of the residence. Corporal Hawpe informed them of his and Cpl. Minkevitch’s location, and the two officers then re-entered the residence. Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch decided that because they are in an unsecure location with an armed suspect in their vicinity, they should move to the north side ofthe residence to secure that locationandsearchforMontano. Theywalkednorthfromtheirlocationalongatreeline to the northwest corner ofthe residence, then walked east along the north side ofthe residence, looking for Montano. After walking approximately 50 yards to the east and checking several exterior locations on the north side ofthe residence, the officers then returned to the northwest corner ofthe residence so that they could observe and provide security for both the north and west sides ofthe residence.
At 1:02 am, as Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch neared the northwest comer of the residence, they heard the sound offootsteps rustling to the south ofthem outside the residence. Cpl. Hawpe, using the light mounted on his rifle, illuminated the area in the direction from where the sound was coming, and observed a person running westbound. Cpl. Hawpe called out “There he is!” and began to run westbound in pursuit of the suspect. Cpl. Minkevitch, who was a couple of steps behind Cpl. Hawpe, joined in pursuit. They observed a male subject wearing a white bandana wrapped around his head, shirtless, and wearing black pants, running away from them.
Cpl. Minkevitch ran to the south and Cpl. Hawpe ran at an angle to the west, to give them the greatest range to intercept the subject. Cpl. Hawpe yelled commands for the suspect to stop and show his hands. As the officers gained on the suspect, he came to a stop approximately 10 to 15 yards away from the officers. Cpls. Hawpe and Minkevitch also came to a stop and both of them illuminated the suspect with the flashlights attached to their rifles.
Cpls. Hawpe and Minkevitch recognized the suspect as David Montano, whom both personally new from prior law enforcement contact. Cpl. Hawpe gave multiple verbal commands to Montano to “Show us your hands!” They observed Montano raise his left hand but not his right hand, and both Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch saw what they recognized as a shotgun in his right hand. Both officers observed Montano swinging the shotgun with his right hand in front ofhim. Cpl. Hawpe continued to give Montano instructions to drop the gun, and called Montano by name. Cpl. Minkevitch also began instructing Montano to drop the gun.
Montano then faced Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch and began yelling something at them that they could not understand. Montano pointed his left hand at Cpl.
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Hawpe while continuing to swing the shotgun around in his right hand. Cpl. Minkevitch, observing that David Montano was making an aggressive action toward Cpl. Hawpe while armed with a shotgun at the ready, and having been made aware that Montano had apparently killed at least one person that night, fired multiple shots into Montano’s body. Montano fell to the ground, and Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch made sure Montano’s hands were visible.
Other officers arrived moments later, and they all approached Montano. They observed a pump-style shotgun, black in color with a sawed-off barrel and a pistol grip, underneath Montano’s body. They also located a large fixed bladed knife with a wooden handle on Montano’s right hip. Cpl. Hawpe had brought along a portable medical bag, and they tended to his wounds, which consisted of visible gunshot wounds to his chest and abdominal region.
Newton emergency medical crews arrived shortly thereafter and began emergency medical treatment on Montano. He was transported to the Newton Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
The fatal shooting of David Montano by Cpl. Levi Minkevitch was entirely warranted and justified under the circumstances in which he was presented during the early morning hours ofFebruary 23, 2017. Cpl. Minkevitch was aware from previous personal law enforcement contacts that David Montano was a known violent drug offender. He was provided with credible information from other law enforcement officers that Montano had killed at least one person, and was armed with possibly two firearms, including a shotgun. David Montano was personally observed by Cpl. Minkevitch attempting to flee the scene, armed with a shotgun. David Montano refused to comply with multiple commands by Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch, who repeatedly instructed Montano to drop his weapon and show his hands. Corporals Hawpe and Minkevitch were in clearly identified law enforcement uniforms and Montano also personally knew the officers from prior law enforcement contacts. David Montano posed an immediate threat to both officers, and made an aggressive move toward Cpl. Hawpe while holding a shotgun. Cpl. Minkevitch had to make a split-second decision, and was justified in the use of lethal force in order to remove an immediate and imminent threat to Cpl. Hawpe, to himself, to the safety of other law enforcement officers at the scene, and to known citizen survivors at the scene.
Unknown to Cpl. Minkevitch at the time, information learned later through investigation by KBI interviews with law enforcement and witnesses substantiate the imminent lethal threat posed by David Montano.
Three victims were shot and killed by David Montano inside the residence: Michael John Lemmons, Nelton Dean Lemons, and Jason Stubby.
Multiple surviving witnesses at the scene provided consistent and credible information that David Montano drove to that location with the specific intent of murdering those individuals.
One witness, whose name shall remain offthis report for privacy purposes, reported that she was forced to accompany Montano to the scene. She informed the KBI that while being driven against her will to 2111 N. Spencer Road, she observed Montano behaving in a very violent and angry manner. She observed him anned with a shotgun and a handgun, and with what she described as a machete-type knife. She reported that while driving to the scene Montano kept saying, “Mother Earth is thirsty, she needs
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blood.” She described Montano as being shirtless, wearing black leather pants, and that he had rubbed either paint or mud all over his torso.
Although Cpl. Minkevitch could not have known all ofthis information prior to fatally shooting Montano, this information substantiates Cpl. Minkevitch’s belief in the violent and dangerous mindset of Montano at the scene, and confirms that his actions in shooting Montano likely saved more innocent lives.
It is clear from the totality of the circumstances that the decisive actions of Corporal Levi Minkevitch were well within the scope of his lawful authority as a law enforcement officer, and were entirely warranted.