By Nathan Pilling
The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Memorial services for Kansas City firefighter-paramedic Graham Hoffman, who was fatally stabbed while working an overtime shift Sunday, will take place Friday, the Kansas City Fire Department announced.
Services will be held at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, 1600 State Route 291, in Liberty, the department said. A public visitation will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a funeral service will take place from 1-2:30 p.m. A memorial procession will leave the church at 3 p.m.
The procession route has not yet been announced, but the department said it would pass by Station 42 in southeast Kansas City, Hoffman’s last assignment.
Hoffman was stabbed while on a call early Sunday morning in Kansas City’s Northland, as he and another paramedic were transporting a woman in an ambulance to an area hospital, according to court documents.
Callers reportedly had seen the woman, identified as Shanetta Bossell, walking in the area of State Highway 152 and North Oak Trafficway and had asked police to check on her, authorities said. The woman was bleeding from a cut on the hand, and reluctantly agreed to be taken to a hospital. During that trip, Bossell allegedly stabbed Hoffman in the heart, police said.
Authorities said Bossell then jumped into the driver’s seat of the ambulance and attempted to put the vehicle in gear as the other paramedic was treating Hoffman. She also allegedly bit a police officer during a struggle as he tried to take her into custody. More officers arrived, and they arrested her.
Bossell has been charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest in Clay County. Last week, in another case, Bossell was charged with allegedly biting an off-duty police officer and deemed “a danger to the public.” She bonded out of jail on Friday, less than two days before the fatal attack.
Hoffman, 29, joined the Kansas City Fire Department in 2022.
In a statement Sunday, Kansas City Fire Chief Ross Grundyson described Graham as a dedicated professional, a skilled paramedic and a vibrant person who loved serving his community.
“The Kansas City Fire Department grieves with Graham’s family, friends, and loved ones,” he said. “This is a senseless act that has taken a great young man from his family, friends, and coworkers, and deprived our city of a dedicated firefighter, and a leader on and off the job who only wanted to serve and protect those in his community.”
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