Schools go on lockdown after shooting in residential neighborhood in Lee’s Summit
Two Lee’s Summit schools on Northeast Colbern Road went on lockdown early Monday after a shooting in a nearby residential neighborhood left one person wounded, police said.
Underwood Elementary and Bernard Campbell Middle schools in 1100 and 1200 blocks of Northeast Colbern Road were locked down as a precaution while police investigated.
The lockdowns were later lifted, police said on Twitter about 8:45 a.m. But the schools would “remain on restricted movement” for the rest of the day.
The shooting was related to a domestic conflict, with the shooter and victim being related, said Sgt. Chris Depue, a spokesman for the Lee’s Summit Police Department.
Police remained in the area for hours until they could secure a search warrant for the house. When they entered the home, the shooter was not there. Police identified the man and were continuing to search for him Monday afternoon, Depue said.
The shooting occurred about 7 a.m. in the 1700 block of Northeast Ridgeview Drive. Arriving officers found a gunshot victim who was taken to a hospital with what initially were thought to be serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.
The victim was treated and released, Depue said.
A neighbor, Scott Spellman, said he and his wife were starting their day at home when they heard a sound as if someone were “banging on the house or front door.” He checked outside but didn’t see anything.
About five minutes later, they heard rapid-fire gunshots.
“About four or five gunshots in a row,” Spellman said. “I came to the front door and looked out and saw a young man running between the houses across the street.”
Spellman said the man might have been carrying a rifle or a pistol. “He has some type of weapon with him.”
After the shooting, Spellman saw the young man emerge from the front door of a house across the street. He said the man checked his cellphone and walked back in. Later, two women left the house.
Police were still blocking the street in that area Monday afternoon.
Spellman said he later learned the banging sound he heard before the shooting was someone knocking on the door of a neighbor across the street. “It scared her half to death,” he said. “They were banging so violently, you could hear it up and down the street.”
Police said the local school district worked with parents and students to make sure children who live in the neighborhoods south of the shooting scene returned home safely.
Buses were operating normally, while children who normally walk through the area were picked up by parents at school.
Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 8:36 AM.
