Editor’s note: This article was updated Aug. 31 following additional reporting and editorial review. An earlier version included information about a separate pending criminal case involving members of the deceased’s family. Subsequent court records show an Aug. 26 proceeding in that case resulted in a continuance, and authorities have established no connection between the proceeding and Parsons’ death. The Chronicle removed information about the separate case from this report to further protect the identity of the juvenile involved.
John Russell Parsons died from a gunshot wound Thursday morning in Iatan in a death the Platte County Sheriff’s Office is investigating as a suicide.
The Sheriff’s Office responded to an address in Iatan at approximately 7 a.m. Aug. 27 for a deceased person with a gunshot wound, Capt. Jeffrey Shanks told The Weston Chronicle. Shanks said the investigation remains ongoing.
The Sheriff’s Office has not officially released the deceased person’s identity. The Chronicle identified Parsons through public dispatch records and independent confirmation from sources familiar with the family.
Platte County dispatch records show a gunshot-injury call at 6:47 a.m. at a residence in Iatan. John Russell Parsons is among the names associated with the call.
Thursday morning’s emergency also delayed a West Platte School District bus route.
Superintendent Brock Dover confirmed the district’s bus transportation experienced a delay “due to an emergency in the Iatan area.”
No students were aboard the bus at the time because the emergency occurred near the first stop of the route, Dover said. He said he did not know who contacted emergency responders.
“Thankfully, no students were on the bus at the time of the emergency, as this occurred near the first stop of the route,” Dover said.
Dover said the district would forward The Chronicle’s contact information to its contracted bus-transportation director to share with the appropriate person.
“Our thoughts are with those impacted by this very difficult situation,” Dover said.
The Sheriff’s Office said it is withholding additional details while the investigation continues.
The incident is documented as CFS No. CFS26-038412 and case No. 01-26-03396.
