Video of teen pointing gun at child’s head stirs outrage in Independence
A video of a teenager placing the muzzle of a handgun against a child’s forehead stirred outrage in Independence Tuesday as police sought help tracking down youths involved in the assault.
Earlier in the day, police put out an announcement that they were seeking 17-year-old Alexander Schrader as a person of interest. Schrader and two juveniles were in custody Tuesday afternoon, police said.
The video also shows the child being punched several times by another person.
“We take incidents like this very seriously and handling cases involving violent crime is a top priority,” Independence police said in a written statement.
The video is “disturbing,” the statement said. In the video, the gun is pointed at the child’s forehead, and the child is subsequently punched several times.
Several people on Sunday notified police of the incident, which appeared to have occurred Saturday. The video had been viewed more than 80,000 times by late Tuesday afternoon.
Anyone with information about the video is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477) or the Independence tips line at 816-325-7777, or email leads@indepmo.org.
This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 6:28 PM.