Shawnee Police Looking For New Leads In 1991 Cold Case

Investigators are working on the only two unsolved homicides in Shawnee.

Detective Charles Swantek was assigned a case involving the shooting death of Brian Todd Roberts in September 1991.

“It’s just very senseless and brutal,” Detective Swantek said about the act.

By all accounts, police said the violent killing happened in the heat of the moment.

A witness told detectives, around 1 a.m. September 28, he saw Roberts and the suspect at 9th Street and Kickapoo. Police said there was some sort of altercation and Roberts got in his truck to leave.

“As he’s leaving the other individual actually shot at the car, the car came to a rest and then officers came out to the scene and the suspect fled,” Detective Swantek said.

And now two decades later, a fresh set of eyes will take a look what happened, hoping to finally hold the killer accountable.

“I want to solve it. It will be solved,” he said.

Detective Swantek volunteered to take on this case.

He said initial reports indicated Roberts may have been in another argument even earlier that night coming from a nightclub that used to be off Benson Park Road. And that could have led to the shooting.

But they'll continue to comb through the paperwork left behind by previous detectives. They'll also submit the evidence for other tests.

“We have a lot more technology and different ways of looking at a case and be able to maybe come at it from different angles,” Detective Swantek told News 9.

But he said the public could play a big part in finding the suspect and closure for the victim’s family.

“I’ll follow whatever leads, no matter what they are,” he said.

If you remember anything about what happened that night in September of 1991, you're asked to call Shawnee Police at (405) 878-1634.