On the afternoon of October 2, 2018, violence erupted at a busy intersection in Kansas City, Missouri, leaving two men dead. Police were dispatched around 3:45 p.m. to the BP gas station located near 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard after reports of gunfire. Upon arrival, officers discovered the body of 18-year-old male Tyler Nichaud Johnson in the parking lot. He had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Simultaneously, chaos unfolded just a block away.
The second individual involved in the altercation, identified as 26-year-old Kenton Branch, attempted to flee the scene in a vehicle immediately after the shooting. His escape was short-lived as he crashed into another car a block south of the gas station. Branch, who was also suffering from gunshot wounds, briefly ran from the wreckage before collapsing. He was transported to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
In the wake of the violence, investigators reviewed surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses to piece together the events. Police questioned a 21-year-old man, Brandon J. Kumm, who had driven Tyler Johnson to the gas station to meet someone. Kumm told detectives that shortly after they arrived, Johnson approached another vehicle, and gunfire erupted. While Kumm was not charged with the killings, he was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence. Security footage allegedly captured Kumm removing a bag of marijuana from Johnson’s body before police arrived.
Authorities ultimately determined that the shooting was likely an exchange of gunfire between the two deceased men. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced that no homicide charges would be filed in connection with the deaths of Tyler Johnson and Kenton Branch. The office stated that because both individuals involved in the fatal confrontation were deceased, the case would not result in a murder prosecution, effectively closing the investigation into the violence that claimed both lives.
