A St. Joseph man accused in a fatal shooting in Kansas City’s Northland has died of a self-inflicted gunshot after Kansas City police officers tracked him down in Iowa.
The victim of the KC Northland shooting was identified on Monday as Noah Bryant, 22, of Leavenworth.
According to a police report filed in Platte County court, Christian Crail, 26, shot Bryant in the head on May 14 while Bryant and his girlfriend were driving for Doordash in a black Dodge Dart.
Bryant had stopped at a Taco Bell and a Chipotle in Kansas City’s Northland to pick up orders. Bryant was passing Chase Bank at NW Barry Road and N Boardwalk Avenue when Crail shot into the car, according to court documents.
Bryant’s girlfriend, the owner of the Dart, was uninjured. After Bryant was shot, she steered the vehicle onto the sidewalk, and surveillance footage shows Crail fleeing north on Interstate 29.
Bryant was pronounced dead the following day at a local hospital.
“We are overwhelmed by grief at the loss of our sweet Noah,” Bryant’s aunt, Christy McKee, wrote online. “He was and always will be the brightest star in the sky.”
Surveillance footage collected from Chase Bank shows Crail, in a black Jeep Patriot, arriving at the Chipotle around the same time as the Dart. Bryant was parked outside Chipotle for an extended period of time, during which his girlfriend reported that she and Bryant had had an argument, according to court documents.
Crail did not exit Chipotle until Bryant did, and drove side by side with him until the shooting, according to court documents. Police have not found any evidence that Crail and Bryant knew each other, according to Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd.
After the shooting, police tracked Crail to Centerville, Iowa, where officers attempted to speak with him Monday evening. As they approached, officers heard a gun fire, Zahnd said.
Crail was discovered in his car with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and pronounced dead at an Iowa hospital. He had been charged with felony assault and armed criminal action prior to his death.
In a statement Tuesday, Zahnd described efforts to find Crail as “an intense manhunt.” Zahn also referred to Crail as an “evil man”.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the family of the victim, an innocent motorist who was randomly gunned down,” said Zahnd.
Crail was a suspect in at least one other roadway shooting, according to Zahnd. In 2021, a man in a black Jeep Patriot matching Crail’s description fired a gun at the passenger side of a woman’s car in Olathe. The woman told Olathe police that the shot was fired after she responded with a profane hand gesture to Crail cutting her off in traffic.
Crail was also charged with second-degree assault in 2021, according to court records.
Bryant’s family hosted a walk in his honor at North Kansas City Hospital on Friday. Five of Bryant’s organs were donated after his death, his father Virgil shared online.
“I will forever tell the world about you,” Bryant’s sister Grace wrote online Sunday. “Our bond is one of a kind, I know you are still with me Noah. I won’t let you down.”
Source Agencies
