Teen arrested in shooting of 2-year-old Kansas City boy

Kansas City police arrested a 14-year-old boy Tuesday in connection with a shooting Friday that seriously wounded a 2-year-old boy.

Investigators from the Police Department’s gang squad arrested the teen near 23rd Street and Oakley Avenue. The boy had a gun on him, police said. He was taken to the juvenile jail.

An investigation by the gang squad identified the boy as the one who allegedly fired at a house in the 1600 block of Topping Avenue on Friday morning, hitting the 2-year-old in the back. The victim had been watching television in a front room with his 3-year-old brother and two adults.

Witnesses and evidence at the scene indicated the shooter stood in the street with two others when he fired into the home past children’s toys that littered the front yard and porch.

The victim suffered damage to his liver, stomach and spleen and required surgery. But his condition has greatly improved, his mother, Ana Orozco, said Tuesday.

The boy remains in a hospital. He can’t eat or drink because of a drain tube attached to his stomach, but he is hungry and asks for food, Orozco said.

“He walks around and plays with his toys,” she said. “It’s a miracle.”

Orozco said the arrest brought some relief. But she still worries that the suspect’s friends may act out. She is trying to find a new place to live.

Friday’s shooting was the second time Orozco’s house had been shot up this year.

In August, a teen gunman fired at Orozco’s 16-year-old daughter on their front porch because of a previous dispute. No one was hit, but a suspect was locked up in the juvenile jail. Police believe Friday’s shooting was in retaliation for that.