One of the Olathe shooting victims: Popular leader who was set to move to a bigger job
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Olathe East High School shooting
A shooting at a Johnson County high school injured a school resource officer and an administrator, according to police. The suspect, a student, is in custody.
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Kaleb Stoppel, the Olathe East High School athletic director and assistant principal, was the administrator injured in a shooting at the school on Friday, according to a post from Kansas state Sen. Cindy Holscher, whose son attends the school.
In all, three people were shot and injured: Stoppel, School Resource Officer Erik Clark, and the suspect, who is an 18-year-old student and was shot in the abdomen, according to radio traffic from the officer, captured by Broadcastify.com.
Olathe police said the shooting occurred when the student displayed a gun in the school’s main office, and shots were exchanged between him and the school resource officer.
Officials at Overland Park Regional Medical Center said in a written statement Friday afternoon that the two victims were discharged from the hospital. The student remained there in critical condition.
Stoppel is known as a well-liked administrator, an advocate for both athletics and the arts at the school, 14545 W. 127th St. He has worked as Olathe East athletic director and assistant principal since 2018, according to his LinkedIn page. Before that, he served the same role at Santa Fe Middle School from April 2017 until June 2018, and previously worked as a high school math teacher and head track coach at Olathe South High School.
This was supposed to be Stoppel’s last year at Olathe East. Wichita Public Schools hired him to be the district athletic director, and he was scheduled to start in July, according to a release from the Wichita district.
In the release, retiring Wichita district athletic director J. Means said, “Having grown up in western Kansas and then working in the Olathe area, Kaleb brings a unique perspective of how athletics works throughout the state. He’s very active in both our state and national organizations and will bring a wealth of knowledge to this position.”
Stoppel was born and raised in Kansas, moving around a few times throughout his childhood, he said on the April 15, 2021, episode of “Hanging with the AD,” podcast. His father, Dwight, was an elementary school principal, and his mother, Sheree, was a music teacher. His wife, Allison Stoppel, is a math teacher.
Family members did not immediately return The Star’s request for an interview on Friday.
Stoppel graduated from Osage City High School in 2004 and was the school’s salutatorian. A multi-sport athlete, he found a niche in track and field and ran track at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 9:08 PM.
