Man accused of unintentional shooting outside KC Zoo faces federal gun charge
Update: In an earlier version of this story, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri incorrectly stated the relationship between the man charged and the victim. The two were not related.
A man is facing a federal gun charge after he was accused of unintentionally shooting and killing a 19-year-old Sunday outside the Kansas City Zoo.
Federal prosecutors have charged Anthony R. Meneses, 27, with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges were filed in U.S. District Court Tuesday, according to the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Meneses was arrested Thursday.
Kansas City police responded to 6800 Zoo Drive Sunday where they found the victim, later identified as 19-year-old Jason T. Smith, shot in the driver’s seat of a 2005 Toyota Camry. Meneses, was sitting behind him. Meneses’s wife and Smith’s girlfriend were also in the car.
Meneses had allegedly picked up a Glock 9mm pistol from the back pocket of the driver’s seat when the gun went off, sending a bullet through the driver’s seat and striking Smith’s chest.
Smith was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Prosecutors said Meneses was previously convicted of tampering with a motor vehicle.
Smith was among six people were killed in Kansas City over the weekend.
In a news release, prosecutors said the Kansas City Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case as part of Operation LeGend.
The operation is named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was fatally shot in June in Kansas City.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 10:31 AM.
