Privacy Policy » Paramedic Dies After Being Stabbed In Chest by Patient In Ambulance En Route to Hospital

Kansas City, Missouri Fire Department paramedic firefighter Graham Hoffman, 29, died early Sunday morning after he was allegedly stabbed in the chest, piercing his heart, by a patient he was tending to while en route to the hospital.

“He was a young firefighter-paramedic,” said Kansas City Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, via KMBC, adding that Hoffman was working overtime when he was stabbed. “Speaking with a lot of his classmates and folks that work with him today, he was very vibrant. Loved to travel, and he loved serving his community.”

The woman in the ambulance, 39-year-old Shanetta Bossell, has been charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, third-degree assault and resisting arrest. Her bond has been set at $1 million, per KSHB.

According to arrest docs, both officers and firefighters responded to a call about a woman walking along the side of the highway around 1am on Sunday morning. An ambulance was allegedly called to the scene because a cut on her finger was bleeding heavily.

Though Bossell initially didn’t want to go to the hospital and paramedics determined she wasn’t trying to harm herself, per the docs, she changed her mind and took them up on the offer. As officers followed behind the ambulance, Bossell allegedly attacked Hoffman, stabbing him in the chest, piercing his heart.

The ambulance driver then turned on the siren, jumped out of the driver’s seat and yelled to police following behind them, “She has a knife!” An officer who witnessed the victim and suspect struggling inside the ambulance called for backup.

While attempting to subdue Bossell, she allegedly jumped into the driver’s seat, twice, and tried starting the ambulance. She also allegedly bit the officer on the arm, before the docs state he hit her in the back of the head with his weapon. She was then detained.

Hoffman, meanwhile, was rushed to the hospital; he died after surgery.

A knife believed to have been used in the attack was found nearby.

This was Bossell second run-in with the law this month, after she allegedly bit an off-duty officer who said he tried detaining her after he saw her pulling on car door handles outside his home. She was reportedly charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest, but was released after posting bond Friday, April 25.

“Like many, I share concern that the defendant had within the past week been arrested and charged by prosecutors with felony assault on a law enforcement officer only to, based upon the allegations, return as a serious threat to the public and first responders only days later,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement. “I believe in our justice system and will await further information about all that led to this heartbreaking incident and all that could have been done to avoid it.”