After standoff, Kansas City police arrest man who shot at employees at Arrowhead
Update: This story has been updated. Read the latest here.
Kansas City police arrested a man after a daylong standoff in the Truman Sports Complex parking lot. The man, who was armed, fired shots at employees outside Arrowhead Stadium.
The man arrived at Arrowhead around 11:30 a.m. Saturday before firing shots at employees. No one was hit, said Kansas City Police Department spokesman Capt. Dave Jackson. The man was detained by police shortly after 6 p.m.
“We think this is more of a mental health situation that has arrived at Arrowhead,” Jackson said earlier the day. “This is a dynamic, dangerous situation. This person is armed with guns and we are using all of our deescalation techniques that we have in order to end this peacefully.”
Though the standoff ended without incident, the man did not meet the criteria for psychiatric evaluation and was sent to jail after his arrest, police said.
At times, the man pointed the guns and at other times placed the guns in his waistband as he moved around, Jackson said.
Some employees sheltered inside, Jackson said, adding that police were confident the employees were safe.
“It’s my understanding that he has no connection to the Chiefs or Royals in any way,” Jackson said.
Jackson said negotiators with crisis intervention training were on site to try to talk to the man.
The Royals were scheduled to play Saturday evening.
“The Royals game is probably not going to change our demeanor,” Jackson said. He said police would be there as long as needed to handle it safely.
“Our goal is to keep him contained and to keep him away from innocent people that he could hurt, and then to use dialogue to end this peacefully,” Jackson said.
The roads around the complex were open while the area was on lockdown.
Earlier in the day, KC Royals manager Mike Matheny said the team was inside and moving forward, assuming like the game would be played.
He said all of the entrances are monitored and that access to the stadium was in lockdown. However, he said, that’s not out of the ordinary because of COVID-19.
“We kind of changed where we’re bringing the players in,” Matheny said. “Just a different gate kind of further away from some of the issues that are going on and now we’ve got everybody in and it’s just business as usual.”
The Royals game was delayed to 6:35 p.m.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
The Star’s Pete Grathoff and Jill Toyoshiba contributed to this report.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
