‘Out of hand’: One injured in gunfire amidst large gathering at Lee’s Summit park
Lee’s Summit police are investigating a shooting that injured one person amidst a large group at Lea McKeighan Park Sunday night.
Officers were patrolling the area of the park on Chipman Road around 10 p.m. Sunday, which is about an hour before the park closes, when they heard gunshots and then saw vehicles exiting the north side of the park, police said. Sgt. Chris Depue, with the Lee’s Summit Police Department, told The Star that investigators estimated there were 75-100 vehicles at the park when the shooting occurred.
Officers were approached by a victim who had a gunshot wound, and the person was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The park, which is bisected by Chipman Road into north and south sections, is home to a skate park, pickleball courts, sand volleyball courts and play areas. Both sides of the park have large parking areas.
The north side of the park and roads in the area were closed for several hours while detectives processed the scene.
Depue said Monday morning that detectives were still working on interviews and determining what led up to the shooting. Depue did not have an estimate on the number of shots that were fired but said shell casings were recovered from the scene.
William Tokarz, who lives near the park, said he heard around 15-30 shots. When he looked out from his home at the north side park, he could see around 100 people and a Lee’s Summit police vehicle that was at the park at the time, he said. With the number of people present, it was fortunate that only one person was hurt, he said.
Tokarz said other incidents have been reported at the park previously and that he’s called police a couple times about activity that seemed suspicious to him there. Recently he’s noticed more of a police presence in the area.
“During the day, it’s just a lovely park, it’s a nice park,” he said. “There’s usually not too much goes on there during the day other than normal activity. It’s just the after-hours.”
He suggested that the city should strictly enforce a closure of the park from dusk to dawn.
“My grandbabies, which live about two apartments down for me, they’re three and five years old, they take them out there during the day and play,” he said. “It’s getting a little out of hand.”
