John Bartrom, 46, a Kansas City businessman and founder and CEO of Jericho Home Improvements, was shot and killed just after midnight on January 7, 2024, in the parking lot of a gas station near East 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue. Police initially responded to a reported medical call and found Bartrom unresponsive; after transport to a hospital he was found to have a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead.

Investigators identified and took into custody a person of interest who said Bartrom had approached his vehicle asking about buying cocaine, then brandished cash, reached into the vehicle and tried to pull him out. The shooter told police he fired one .40-caliber round because he felt his safety was threatened and then drove away. Surveillance footage and other evidence were reviewed by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, which in March 2024 announced no charges would be filed, concluding the shooter acted in self-defense under Missouri law.

Bartrom’s family has expressed anguish and questioned the shooter’s account; they described him as a generous father and businessman and noted his fiancée said he had struggled with drug addiction in the past and had a prior misdemeanor drug charge. Does anyone have information about Bartrom’s final hours or the encounter at that gas station?