KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A paramedic and firefighter in Kansas City was stabbed by a patient he was taking to the hospital on Sunday morning, the Kansas City Fire Department said.

The Kansas City Police Department says that just before 1 a.m., KCFD crews were sent to the area of North Oak Trafficway and 152 Highway for a “routine medical call.”

They were called because a woman was seen walking along the westbound lanes of 152 Highway and someone thought she might be in trouble.

Reports say that when KCFD emergency workers came, they put the woman in an ambulance. But on the way to the hospital, the woman stabbed the firefighter-paramedic, later identified as Graham Hoffman, in the chest with a “edged weapon or sharp object.”

Hoffman’s partner stopped to help and arrested the woman, but the patient hit him or her anyway.

Hoffman was taken to the hospital with injuries that could have killed him, while his partner was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not likely to kill him.

But around 3 p.m. on Sunday, the City of Kansas City said in a statement that he had died from his injuries at the hospital. KCFD told the press on Sunday afternoon that Hoffman had been stabbed in the heart.

He had been with the KCFD since 2022 and was 29 years old. He usually worked out of KCFD Station #42 but was killed while working extra hours on Sunday morning.

The suspect, who has been named Shanetta Bossell, is being held right now. The charges against her are first-degree murder, armed criminal action, assault, and fighting arrest. She has a $1 million bond and is being held.

Bossell was also being held at the Clay County Detention Centre on April 23 and 24 of this week. When she is accused of killing Hoffman, she is free on bond. Records show that she was charged with striking a police officer in that case.

At a news meeting on Sunday afternoon, city leaders said they would help Hoffman’s family deal with their terrible loss.

There will be many steps ahead as we figure out what went wrong, review what happened, and plan for what needs to happen next. Right now, though, I’m sad for his mother, father, brothers, family, and everyone in the KCFD family. “We know we will stand with them today and for a long time to come,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

“I appreciate how quickly Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson filed charges in connection with the tragic murder of Kansas City Firefighter Graham Hoffman,” Mayor Lucas said in a statement. “The charges include first-degree murder and armed criminal action.”

As many others, I’m worried that the defendant was arrested and charged with felony assault on a police officer just last week, only to come back as a serious threat to the public and first responders a few days later-based on the claims. Though I have faith in our legal system, I will wait for more information about what caused this terrible event and what could have been done to stop it.

The City of Kansas City said that the KCFD will help all of its workers who have been affected by the tragedy.