Lee’s Summit man allegedly playing with gun charged in his brother’s death

A 24-year-old Lee’s Summit man told police he was playing with a gun when he shot his brother in the head as the victim brushed his teeth.

Lawrence E. Barr was charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his 28-year-old brother. Barr also was charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with armed criminal action in the Wednesday morning fatal shooting of his brother, Aaron A. Elmore.

The shooting occurred about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday in the 800 block of Northeast Magellan Avenue.

According to court documents filed Thursday, Elmore was in a bathroom brushing his teeth with his 2-year-old son when he was struck in the back of the head with a single shot.

The mother of Elmore and Barr was in another room and heard the shot. She later told police that she saw her grandson running from the bathroom screaming and saw Elmore slumped over.

When she asked Barr what happened, he told her it was an accident, according to the documents.

After the shooting, Barr said he left in his car and threw away the gun before he returned to the house and was arrested.

He told investigators that he was “playing” with the gun and didn’t know there was a live round in the chamber, according to the documents.

Barr is being held on custody on a bond of $100,000.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Lee’s Summit man allegedly playing with gun charged in his brother’s death."