Police trying to determine driver of car involved in shooting at Independence Center
Police on Thursday released photographs of a black Chrysler 300 involved in a shooting this week outside the Independence Center in the hopes that someone will know who was inside.
The shooting unfolded about 2:30 p.m. Monday in the mall’s parking lot near U.S. Bank and Chick-Fil-A, leaving a man in another vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Independence Police Department.
That man, Russell Reed, 26, of Kansas City, has since been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.
Interviewed by a detective at the hospital, Reed said a man he did not know threatened to kill him and another person while they were inside the mall. Later, as Reed began to pull out of the parking lot, the man fired shots at him with a rifle, he said.
Initially, Reed denied returning fire, but he later admitted to firing multiple rounds from a handgun back at the man, according to a probable cause statement. He allegedly said he tossed the gun near the bank, but police were not able to find it.
Detectives have contacted the registered owner of the Chrysler 300 but were still trying to determine who was driving it that day, according to police. They asked anyone with information about who may have been in the car during the shooting to call investigators at 816-325-7777 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
At the scene, investigators found about 30 shell casings in the parking lot. Several witnesses told police they had been “narrowly missed” by gunfire as they sat in or walked to their cars, according to court records.
Other vehicles were hit by bullets. As was the Chick-Fil-A; a stray bullet broke one of the restaurant’s windows. Employees were inside and customers were in the drive-thru at the time.
“This could’ve been a lot worse,” Officer John Syme, a police spokesman, told reporters at the scene.
Last week, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg inside the shopping center. The teenager is still hospitalized, police said.
In late December, police called on parents to pick up their kids from the center after multiple large disturbances and fights involving several hundred teenagers broke out, causing the mall to close early.
On Tuesday, mall leadership put a new curfew in effect. No minors are allowed into the mall without a parent or legal guardian present after 3 p.m. everyday. A 9 p.m. curfew was already in place.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 11:07 AM.
