A 51-year-old Olathe man told police that he shot his stepson in self-defense after he allegedly came at him with a knife, according to court documents.
Video from a surveillance camera, however, shows that moments before the shooting on April 23, the man went to the kitchen and returned carrying a knife similar to the one found with the victim, according to court documents.
Christopher M. Barwick has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in Johnson County District Court in the shooting death of 26-year-old Bryson Smith. Initially, Barwick had been charged with attempted first-degree murder, but the charge was amended after Smith died and his death was ruled a homicide.
One the day of the shooting, police responded shortly before 6 p.m. to a home in the 800 block of South Windsor Road for an armed disturbance between family members, a police spokesman said in a news release.
According to court documents, arriving officers found Smith with a single gunshot wound to the back left side of his head. A knife with a pearl white handle was found underneath his left hand.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition. A doctor declared him dead two days later. A medical examiner conducted an autopsy on May 1 and ruled his death to be a homicide.
According to a reacted affidavit, Barwick allegedly had an altercation with Smith and wanted him out of the house.
During the altercation Barwick allegedly told a detective he grabbed his stepson by his dreadlocks and started dragging him up the stairs to get him out of the house. He let him go when his stepson pleaded with him, according to court documents.
The victim allegedly then told Barwick to call police because he wasn’t going anywhere. Barwick allegedly told police that the victim then came at him with a knife and he shot the victim, according to court documents.
“I had to defend myself,” Barwick allegedly told the detective.
Smith was found downstairs in an unfinished basement. The only access to the basement was through the garage. Barwick told a detective about a surveillance camera inside the garage, but he allegedly said it did not record nor did it have audio. The camera was only used to show what was going on in the garage, according to court documents.
A detective learned that the camera did record Barwick entering the garage about 5:56 p.m., shortly before he called 911 to tell a dispatcher he shot his son. The camera also captured audio of an exchange involving Barwick, according to court documents.
The camera then captured video of Barwick coming from the direction of the basement stairs and walking into the kitchen.
“Audio picks up what appears to be the sound of drawer opening and the sound of metal against metal,” according to the court document.
Barwick then was caught on video walking out of the kitchen with a white-handled knife and headed towards the basement stairs before going out of camera view, according to the court document.
Barwick was being held in Johnson County jail on a $500,000 bond.