Justice: Investigation concludes officer-involved shooting justified

BY GARY J. GROMAN, Independent Journalist

On Friday, August 18, 2023, the Branson Police Department conducted a Community Debrief of the February 28, 2023, officer-involved shooting of Randall Wesolek Jr., resulting in his death. The briefing included Eric Schmitt, Branson’s Chief of Police; Corporal Sam Carpenter from Missouri State Highway Patrol; and Lieutenant E.J. Jones from the Branson Police Department.

The Chief expressed his hope that debriefing would provide the community with the information necessary to understand the officers’ actions and the reasons for those actions. He also stressed that “this result is the last thing that our officers want to happen. We spend a great deal of time, money and effort in developing our policies and training so that deadly force can be avoided in all but the worse situations. We take all use of force seriously and understand the value of human life.”

Schmitt said that per standard procedure, the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the incident. Upon completion, it forwarded the investigation to the Taney County Prosecutor’s office for review. After the review, Brad Hughes, the Taney County Prosecutor, notified the Chief that there would be no criminal charges.

In the interim, the Branson Police Department convened a Deadly Force Review Board. The makeup included a peer officer, firstline supervisor, member of Command Staff, department trainer, and sworn officer from an outside agency. The net result was that all officers’ actions resulted from the immediate deadly threat that Mr. Wesolek presented. Their actions were reasonable, justified and compliant with applicable laws, policies, and training.

The Chief said the initial interactions with Mr. Wesolek were cordial and calm. The officers gave Mr. Wesolek explicit orders to stop his actions. They responded quickly and effectively when presented with an immediate deadly threat. Afterward, they immediately secured the scene and weapon, checked on bystanders and each other, and promptly began lifesaving efforts for Mr. Wesolek.

The Chief then introduced a video, narrated by Lt. E.J. Jones from the Branson Police Department’s Investigations Division, responsible for coordinating administrative reviews of officers’ actions in critical incidents. First, the video goes through the incident in stages, narrated by Jones. It then goes through the incident in real time with no narration. The video is currently on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lK0MCSUEMBM. Some viewers could find this content disturbing, so viewer discretion is appropriate.

A summary of the video and narration by Jones follows below:

The video shows that the shooting occurred in the 1100 block of 76 Country Boulevard on February 28, 2023. At around 9:50 p.m., Officer 1 became aware of a wanted suspect driving a 2005 silver Pontiac Grand Am. The suspect, Randall James Wesolek Jr. of Rockaway Beach, was wanted for several felony warrants. At 9:52 p.m., Branson Police Officer 1 located the Pontiac traveling west on 76 Country Boulevard near Roark Valley Road and requested another officer be enroute to his location to assist with a vehicle stop. As Officer 1 followed the Pontiac, the vehicle turned into a convenience store parking lot and stopped near the building’s front door.

Officer 1 parked behind the Pontiac, exited his vehicle and contacted the occupant. Inside the vehicle was a male driver and a dog. Officer 1 introduced himself and asked for the driver’s name. The driver, Mr. Wesolek, verbally provided a false name. Upon the arrival of Officer 2, Officer 1 returned to his vehicle to confirm Wesolek’s identity through police files. Officer 1 recontacted Wesolek seated in the Pontiac with the dog in his lap while Officer 3 arrived at the scene.

Officer 1 instructed Wesolek to step out of the vehicle, but he refused, asking what he did wrong. Officer 1 repeated the instruction to step out of the vehicle while opening the car door. Wesolek refused to exit the car. Officer 1 told Wesolek that he believed he was “Randall,” and both he and Officer 2 told Wesolek that he was under arrest while repeating the orders to step out of the car.

Wesolek continued to refuse orders and began reaching for something between the seat and center console with his right hand. Officers 1 and 3 grabbed ahold of Wesolek, saying, “Do not reach” while in a brief struggle. The officers attempted to control Wesolek for approximately five seconds, but he was able to retrieve a handgun with his right hand. Wesolek brought the gun up toward the officers, and all three saw it.

Officers yelled “Gun” while Wesolek pointed the pistol at Officer 1. The officers simultaneously disengaged and retrieved their duty-issued firearms, firing as they retreated away from Wesolek. The officers fired several rounds at Wesolek during approximately three (3) seconds. Several shots struck Wesolek, and he fell from the vehicle onto the parking lot while his gun fell out of his hand and landed next to him. [About two (2) seconds transpired from the time officers yelled “gun” to the firing of the first shots.]

The officers immediately advised Branson Dispatch that shots were fired and requested them to start medical responders to their location. During the next minute, the officers secured Wesolek’s gun and the scene, checking the store’s occupants and themselves for injuries. When Officer 1 retrieved Wesolek’s gun, he secured it in the trunk of his patrol car, unloading it first. He discovered that the gun was loaded with a round in the chamber.

Within a minute and a half of the shooting, officers began attempting lifesaving measures for him.

The officers continued to administer CPR for two minutes until relieved by Branson Fire Department personnel. Despite all lifesaving efforts by officers, fire department personnel, and medics from the Taney Country Ambulance District, Mr. Wesolek was pronounced dead at the scene. A brief vehicle search showed a holster for Wesolek’s gun wedged between Wesolek’s seat and the center console. This is where Wesolek had reached with this right hand when he was instructed to exit the car.

It is believed that the dog was injured during this incident, and it was observed running from the scene. Efforts were made to find the dog; however, it was not located.

Per Branson Police Department Policy for Officer Involved Shootings, the assistance of an outside organization was requested to investigate. The scene and all evidence were turned over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control for investigation.

At the conclusion of their investigation, copies of their report were provided to the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office and the Branson Chief of Police.

They showed the whole video again. This time in real-time with no interruptions.

During the Media Q & A, a journalist asked Corporal Sam Carpenter of the Missouri State Police if the Branson Police Department fully cooperated during the investigation. He replied, “Yes, absolutely.” Another media question was, “Do you think there was a better way police could have handled the situation and the escalation? I saw that all three officers opened fire at him. Is that a part of training and a part of what goes into all this when a gun is shown?”

Chief Schmitt replied, “Yes,” stressing that “the officers responded exactly the way we trained them to in situations like this.”