Two teens detained during fights that broke out at Lee's Summit Downtown Days
Lee’s Summit police say they were "prepared” when they needed to break up disturbances caused by teenagers at Saturday’s Downtown Days festival, despite calling in reinforcements. It took about an hour-and-a-half for authorities to end the fights.
Officers detained two teens throughout the evening, said Kelly Johnson, Lee’s Summit Police Department spokesperson. The teens were released to their guardians, but could face charges in the future, according to Johnson. No injuries were reported.
Starting around 7:40 p.m., Johnson said, “one incident, one fight after another kind of broke out for the next good hour, hour and a half.” Officers attempted to disperse the groups of young people.
One teen, who was later detained, allegedly discharged bear spray, according to a LSPD news release. Another ran from officers and was later found to have an unregistered, 3D-printed “ghost” gun.
Videos allegedly taken at the event appear to show officers pinning youth down, with one young person placed in handcuffs and young people milling around the carnival area of the annual festival.
Officers turned on their tasers, making an electricity sound, and threatened to discharge pepper spray, according to Johnson, but she said they did not discharge the tasers or pepper spray.
Officers ‘were ready’
Johnson told reporters in a Sunday press briefing that the police department had prepared for the event. She estimated 20 LSPD officers were working the event, along with 13 Titan security guards, according to Donnie Rodgers, executive director of the Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, which puts on the event.
The officers used police drones and a camera trailer.
“We were ready, our officers engaged, they were ready, they were prepared, and there are no serious injuries,” Johnson said.
Even so, LSPD called for help from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, which sent two deputies, according to Johnson.
When asked why a “prepared” force still took an hour and a half and help from another agency to disperse the crowd, Johnson said the officers drained resources moving from one fight to the next.
“We can’t just leave the problem that just existed,” she said.
Where else can teens go?
Both Johnson and Rodgers acknowledged that Downtown Days is one of the few free events in Lee’s Summit where teenagers can gather during the summer.
Johnson said the teens went to the event, “because it’s a place that they can congregate, and then some of them, I won’t even say all of them, some of them chose to be disruptive.”
Rodgers said, “That’s the hard thing. I want teens to have something to do, we all do, but what is that?”
This is the third year in a row teens have disrupted the Downtown Days festival. In 2025 and 2024, cries of “gun” caused panic in the crowd.
This year, the event was more spread out in downtown Lee’s Summit, with the fights concentrated in the entrance to the festival area.
Rodgers said, “Even while some of the things were happening last night, there were still people in other parts of the festival really enjoying it.”
Festival organizer responds
The Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street holds over 100 community events each year, including the Lee’s Summit Farmers Market and Fourth Friday Art Walks.
Sunday’s festival was cut short due to severe weather, according to Rodgers.
Rodgers said he’ll continue to collaborate with city leadership, police and fire department to plan for future Downtown Days.
“I want to make sure that (community events) are as safe as possible for everyone, and so we’ll have those difficult conversations in the upcoming weeks to figure out how can we continue to do events that help unite our community,” he said.
This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 3:26 PM.
