NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

AUGUST 27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KC MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL FIREARM

FOLLOWING POLICE SHOOTING

FACES 30 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally using a firearm following a gunfight with police officers in which an officer was severely injured.

             Bryan K. Walker, 23, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey this morning to the charges contained in a Sept. 7, 2007, federal indictment. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, the government and Walker agree to request a sentence of 30 years in federal prison without parole.

             Walker pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana, to carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Co-defendant Kyle A. Gardenhire, 25, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty on July 28, 2009, to being an unlawful user of marijuana while in possession of a firearm.

             Walker and Gardenhire were arrested by Kansas City, Mo., police officers following a traffic stop near 71st Street and Myrtle Avenue on Aug. 7, 2007. As officers attempted to stop the Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Gardenhire, he attempted to flee, striking a police car. As the officers approached the car, Walker – a passenger in the rear seat – began firing gun shots at the officers. Police Officer Paul Clark was struck by the gun shots and severely injured. Officers returned fire, striking Gardenhire.

             A loaded Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered from the front passenger floorboard. A loaded Smith and Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic pistol was recovered from the back seat. A Ruger .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered from the back seat. The magazine of the Ruger was empty and several spent .22-caliber shell casings were recovered from the car. The police officers recovered 30 individual baggies containing a total of approximately 190.61 grams of marijuana from the front passenger seat floorboard.

             It is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Walker has two prior felony convictions for unlawful use of a weapon in 2004, a felony conviction for unlawful use of a weapon – shooting into a dwelling in 2005, and felony convictions for tampering in the first degree and felony fleeing, both in 2004.

            A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.