An investigation has been opened by a state agency to determine whether Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe acted ethically as he reviewed the deadly use-of-force that killed John Albers, a 17-year-old shot in the driveway of his home by an Overland Park police officer in 2018.

The investigation will be handled by the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator, an arm of the Kansas Judicial Branch that reviews claims of ethical misconduct and has the authority to terminate or suspend an attorney from practicing law in the state. The investigation was opened in response to a complaint filed by Sheila Albers, the mother of John Albers.

Reached by The Star on Friday afternoon, Shelia Albers alleged Howe pushed a narrative “dramatically different” from the facts of the case as part of an effort to “paint a picture that the officer had legitimate reason to fear for his life.”

“I hope that they take some sort of disciplinary action because it will send a message to district attorneys across the country that false narratives are not OK,” Albers said, adding: “When statements are released by local governments or district attorneys, they need to be 100% factual and accurate.”

A spokeswoman for Howe’s office declined The Star’s request for comment in an email Friday.

On Jan. 20, 2018, then-Overland Park police officer Clayton Jenison was dispatched to check the welfare of John Albers, who had posted videos on social media demonstrating a suicide risk.

As Jenison approached the house, the door to the home’s attached garage was opening. The 17-year-old started to back the minivan down the driveway and, as Jenison stepped back behind and near its right side, he fired two gunshots.

The van stopped briefly after the first two bullets. It was then driven wildly in reverse, doing a 180-degree turn, as Jenison continued to move around its side and fire 11 more gunshots. It coasted down a hill before coming to rest on a neighbor’s lawn. John Albers — who had bullet wounds to his head and back — was pronounced dead at the scene.

The case was investigated by Johnson County’s Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Team, or OISIT, a multi-jurisdictional assembly of investigators tasked specifically with reviewing deadly-force cases. During a 46-minute interview with investigators, Jenison said he felt threatened in the situation and opened fire because he feared being run over by the minivan.

Forensics reports from the time showed the bullets entered the minivan through the right rear side and traveled diagonally across and through the driver’s side of the vehicle.

In late January 2018, the evidence gathered by the use-of-force review team was sent to Howe’s office to determine whether criminal charges would be filed against Jenison. On Feb. 20, 2018, Howe issued a statement saying that criminal charges would not be pursued as the actions were justified under Kansas law.

At the time, Howe described the driving behavior of the younger Albers as “aggressive” prior to the firing of the first two gunshots by Jenison. Howe determined that it was “reasonable for the officer to conclude, as he did, that his life was at risk.”

Last year, following the public release of hundreds of pages of investigative documents related to the shooting, The Star consulted police, law and forensics experts who criticized Jenison’s decision to open fire and the larger investigation. One expert wondered why Jenison would “fire indiscriminately into a vehicle” instead of moving out of the way, as a matter of basic public safety.

Following the shooting, the City of Overland Park entered a severance agreement with Jenison whereby the city agreed to report to a statewide agency overseeing police officer licensure requirements that Jenison resigned “voluntarily” and for personal reasons. He was paid $70,000 as part of the agreement.

In 2020, the FBI acknowledged that there was an investigation being conducted into the Albers shooting to determine whether federal civil rights laws were violated. Last year, the Department of Justice said there would be no criminal charges filed against Jenison as the use of force did not rise to a U.S. Supreme Court standard of willfully acting “with a bad purpose to disregard the law.”