Crazed woman stabs Kansas City paramedic to death in ambulance — days after she was released on bail for biting a cop: authorities
A crazed patient hacked a Kansas City paramedic to death inside his ambluence while he was taking her to the hospital — and she had just been released on bail for allegedly biting a cop days earlier, according to authorities.
Graham Hoffman, a 29-year-old paramedic and firefighter with the Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD), died Sunday while responding to a welfare check for a woman found wandering along a highway and bleeding heavily from her hand around 1 a.m.
The woman, 39-year-old Shanetta Boswell, initially refused help from Hoffman and police, but then changed her mind and agreed to be taken to the hospital for treatment, authorities told KSHB.
But on the way there, she allegedly attack paramedics. Cops who were following the the ambulance reported that it suddenly veered off the road and the driver lept out in a panic and opened the back doors to help his colleague while shouting “she has a knife.”
Inside, Hoffman was found bleeding heavily from the chest. Authorities said Boswell attempted to fight police and drive off with the ambulance – biting an officer on the arm as he drew his weapon, according to cops.
As officers fought to subdue her, the ambulance driver attempted to revive Hoffman as he slipped out of consciousness. But it was too late, and he was later pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital, authorities said.
Boswell was charged with first degree murder and is being held on $1 million bond.
Boswell also faces charges of resisting/interfering with arrest and third-degree assault.
Just days before the attack she had been let go for another alleged assault on a public servant, authorities said.
In that incident, Boswell allegedly sank her teeth into a police officer who was attempting to arrest her on April 23, according to KSHB.
She was charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest – but posted her $10,000 bond and was released sometime before Hoffman’s murder over the weekend.
Earlier, on March 31 she had another run-in with police after rear-ending a car and fleeing the scene, resulting in a citation.
Hoffman had been with KCFD since 2022, and was described by colleagues as a “dedicated professional who loved serving his city,” who was “compassionate, caring, loving and a leader on and off the job.”
“His KCFD ambulance was an essential lifesaving tool,” the Missouri Division of Fire Safety wrote in a Facebook post after the tragedy. “But early this morning, Hoffman’s ambulance became a crime scene and Hoffman a victim of an unfathomable crime — allegedly stabbed to death by a patient he was treating.”
“Hoffman had committed his life to answering the alarm bell no matter the emergency, regardless of the circumstances,” the group added. “He was a lifesaver.”
