Juvenile charged in Labor Day shooting at Sun Fresh Market, KC police say
Jackson County authorities have charged a male in connection to a shooting at a grocery store on Labor Day that injured two people, according to court records.
The unnamed juvenile faces first-degree and second-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action felony charges. The shooting incident happened at the new Sun Fresh Market inside the Linwood Shopping Center at Linwood Boulevard and Prospect Avenue. The grocery store held its grand opening less than three months ago.
A man and a teenage girl were injured in the shooting. Their injuries were not life-threatening and were treated at nearby hospitals.
The juvenile facing charges, whose age was not released, is scheduled to appear in Family Court for a detention hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Kansas City police announced on Thursday they arrested the juvenile without incident “through a coordinated effort” within its law enforcement network.
No details were released on the exact location of where the arrest took place, but police said officers arrested him somewhere in Kansas City’s Northland.
Because a juvenile is accused in the shooting, court records describing the criminal charges are closed to the public. However, police said at the time of the shooting the teenage girl who was wounded was not the intended target.
The shooting incident raised safety concerns for the grocery store, which opened to the public in June as part of an ongoing effort to revitalize the Prospect Avenue corridor. The city invested $17 million in the new development.
The day following the shooting, Mayor Sly James voiced his outrage on Twitter and asked the public to help authorities locate the suspect.
“We cannot allow gun violence to undermine the progress of this neighborhood. Everyone deserves to feel safe in this community. It’s on every single one of us — north, south, east, west — to guarantee that safety for our neighbors. This is not who we are.”
The grocery store employs two security firms, and guards were present inside and outside during the shooting. The guard posted in the store is normally armed, but the guard working the day of the shooting was a new hire who had not yet been issued a weapon.
The shooting prompted community leaders, clergy and elected officials to hold press a conference. The group rallied to condemn the incident and voiced their continued support of the revitalized shopping center.