Ron Barnett Obituary, Death – The family of Ron Barnett, who was fatally shot in a Walmart parking lot in Platte County last Wednesday, is expressing their outrage and grief. The suspected shooter, Taquiza V. Johnson, 47, is facing charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Johnson, a former police officer, is accused of shooting Barnett, 71, who was the father of Elizabeth Moon and John Barnett.
Elizabeth Moon, Barnett’s daughter, voiced her frustration, emphasizing that Johnson, with his law enforcement background, should have known how to handle the situation differently. “He was trained. He knew better. You were trained to de-escalate and to manage a situation. And he didn’t,” Moon said.
John Barnett shared similar sentiments, expressing his disillusionment with the fact that the shooter was a former officer. “I love cops, but it does make me angry that he was a cop,” he stated.
Johnson served as a police officer with the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department from December 2003 until February 2014. His most recent role was in the patrol bureau.
Moon and her brother learned about their father’s death under distressing circumstances. Moon was in Charlottesville, Virginia, dropping off her daughter at the University of Virginia when she discovered her father was missing and not answering his phone. Panic set in, and she contacted her brother John. John went to the last known location of their father, a bowling alley, and learned he had left for Walmart. Moon then came across a social media post indicating her father’s SUV was involved in the Walmart shooting.
John Barnett explained that his father, a diabetic, had gone to Walmart to pick up medication. He struggled to understand how his father could have posed a threat. “My dad was 71 years old. He could barely walk. I mean, he did walk, but it’s slow. He was very slow. I mean, 71 years old. It wasn’t like he could run a marathon or anything like that. So, it was very bad, there’s no words,” John said.
Surveillance footage of the incident captured a three-minute altercation between Johnson and Barnett. The video shows Johnson approaching Barnett’s SUV, which Barnett was driving, and touching the vehicle. After some words were exchanged, Johnson confronted Barnett again after he parked the SUV. According to the family’s account, Johnson then fired a single shot at Barnett, which went through him and into the back gate of the SUV. Investigators found the bullet lodged in the back seat.
Moon expressed her deep discomfort about the car, saying, “I don’t ever want my car back. I can’t ever imagine being in that car knowing that that bullet went through my dad into my car.”
Johnson is also involved in a pending lawsuit alleging improper detention by a Kansas City police officer. Moon noted that if Johnson had been mistreated in the past, he should have known better given his experience.
Johnson’s police officer license had lapsed due to inactivity over the past five years. He is scheduled to appear in court next week for a bond hearing.
Ron Barnett leaves behind a large family, including three brothers, two sisters, four children, eleven grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren, with a sixteenth expected in October.