On the evening of March 26, 2022, a domestic disturbance at a camper trailer in Baxter Springs, Kansas, ended with two-year-old Clesslynn Cessie Crawford killed and her parents also shot. Officers answered a call to the trailer; after the father, Eli Crawford, shut the door, the child reopened it and the mother, Taylor Shutte, ran out. Eli Crawford then fatally shot Shutte and began firing at responding officers.

Eli Crawford barricaded himself inside the camper with Clesslynn and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement for more than three hours, reportedly firing over 90 rounds from multiple firearms. At about 9:25 p.m., a Joplin Police SWAT officer known as Sniper 1 fired one round into the camper. A Kansas Bureau of Investigation review concluded that bullet struck and killed Clesslynn after the officer mistook her silhouette for her father’s. Officers then heard Eli Crawford say his child had been shot, and a subsequent shot inside the trailer was determined to be self-inflicted; Eli Crawford was later found dead.

The Cherokee County Attorney declined to pursue criminal charges against the Joplin officer, finding insufficient evidence of reckless conduct. Clesslynn’s family has filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging failures in training and supervision, and the officer who fired has sought to keep his name sealed for safety reasons. Does anyone have information about the incident or about the people involved that could help clarify what happened that night?