The brothers Kan. orchestrated retaliatory attacks on law enforcement officers

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A pair of Kansas brothers will serve prison time for opening fire on law enforcement officers while officers were investigating an earlier, related shooting.

According to court documents, G’Ante Butler, 24, and Zarion Butler, 26, of Kansas City, Kansas, were both sentenced to 190 months in prison.

In December 2023, a federal jury found G’Ante Butler guilty of one count of assault on a federal law enforcement officer and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Zarion Butler subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a federal law enforcement officer and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Co-defendants Nadarius Barnes, 24, Chase Lewis, 23, and Donnell L. Hall, 28, all of Kansas City, Kansas, each pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a federal law enforcement officer and one count of use of a weapon. firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. Barnes was sentenced to 156 months in prison, Lewis (a driver who did not shoot at officers) was sentenced to 42 months in prison, and Hall is awaiting sentencing.

On August 3, 2020, police officers in Kansas City, Kansas responded to a “shots fired” call to a home where the Butler brothers’ parents lived on Farrow Avenue. In response to the investigation, special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and Federal Deputy Task Force Officers (TFOs) responded to North Allis Street and arrested a suspect in the Farrow Avenue shooting.

As the officers returned to their vehicles, several gunmen began shooting at them. However, the officers immediately attempted to take cover, but not before an officer and a civilian bystander were struck by gunfire.

The Butlers, Barnes and Hall shot at the house on North Allis Street in retaliation for the earlier shooting on Farrow Avenue. Officers later recovered numerous spent shell casings (including 9mm, .40 caliber, .45 caliber, 5.56 caliber and 7.62 caliber casings) from an alley west of the targeted home on North Allis Street.

“Numerous brave law enforcement officers began their day in August 2020 by executing a lawful search warrant when they were ambushed by four individuals. No one is allowed to shoot at law enforcement agencies.

This sentence is a clear warning to anyone who thinks they can shoot the police and get away with it – that’s not possible. If they try, we will work tirelessly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal, state, and local partners to investigate and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” said Bernard G. Hansen, Special Agent in Charge , Kansas City. Field division. “The actions of ATF Special Agents and officers from our partner agencies that day are truly commendable, as they acted with great respect for not only their safety, but that of the surrounding community. I am both grateful for and inspired by the professionalism of the ATF agents who risked their lives that morning.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating.