Shanetta Bossell, charged with fatally stabbing Kansas City Firefighter/Paramedic Graham Hoffman in an ambulance, will undergo an evaluation to determine her competency to stand trial

By Ben Wheeler
The Kansas City Star

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The woman who is accused of killing a Kansas City Fire Department firefighter-paramedic inside an ambulance is set to undergo a mental competency examination.

Attorneys for Shanetta Bossell filed a notice of intent to rely on lack of mental capacity defense, according to court records filed Friday.

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A psychiatric exam was previously ordered by Bossell’s attorneys on Aug. 3, according to court filings. That exam will assess whether Bossell has a mental issue and whether it prevents her from understanding the court proceedings or assisting in her defense.

The examiner will also recommend whether she should be held in a hospital for treatment while the court determines if she is mentally competent to proceed. The results of that examination are pending.

Bossell is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and tampering with a motor vehicle in connection with the death of 29-year-old Graham Hoffman. A trial-setting hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in Clay County Circuit Court.

She was arrested in April 2025 after she allegedly fatally stabbed Hoffman while riding in an ambulance.

Hoffman, 29, was working an overtime shift in the Northland when he was sent on a routine call to the area of North Oak Trafficway and MO-152 around 1 a.m. on April 27, 2025 . Kansas City police had received calls about a woman walking along MO-152 and found Bossell before requesting medical assistance.

Hoffman and his partner arrived and were transporting Bossell to a hospital when she allegedly stabbed him in the heart with an “edged weapon,” officials said at the time. Investigators later found a knife inside the ambulance.

Hoffman’s partner stopped the ambulance and called for assistance before a police officer who had been following the ambulance took Bossell into custody.

Court documents alleged that Bossell attempted to take the ambulance after the stabbing and had placed the vehicle into gear. She is accused of biting the officer as he tried to take her into custody from the driver’s seat.

Hoffman was taken to a North Kansas City hospital and underwent surgery. He was admitted to the intensive care unit, where he died.

It was later found that Bossell had assaulted a Platte City police officer just days before the attack, with the probable cause statement claiming she should be considered a danger to the public.

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