Man charged in shooting, ax attack that ‘terrorized’ Kansas City neighborhood
A Kansas City man faces five felony charges after he allegedly shot and critically injured one man, threatened others with an ax and then pointed a gun at police officers in the Northland on Wednesday evening.
Charles A. Parker, 37, is charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful weapon use, illegal firearm possession and resisting arrest, records filed in Clay County Circuit Court show. He was arrested Wednesday after Kansas City officers responded to calls about a man firing a gun and threatening people at random in the River View neighborhood.
According to charging papers, Kansas City police were dispatched around 6:45 p.m. to the 3800 block of North Flora Avenue on a disturbance involving a person armed with a weapon. As they were arriving to the scene, officers were told there was a man firing gunshots in the area.
Responding officers found one gunshot victim, who was critically wounded, at a shed in the yard of a residence there. As the ambulance was still responding, the man told them he was attacked by a suspect with a gun and had struggled with him before getting shot.
The gunshot victim, who had injuries to the abdomen, chest and left ear, told police the man had stolen an ax from the shed before leaving on foot.
Police officers responded a couple of blocks away to Wayne Avenue as additional information came in that the armed suspect was walking there and threatening others. The suspect, later identified by authorities as Parker, allegedly took cover behind a parked vehicle and pointed a gun at officers for several minutes before surrendering.
Other neighbors reported seeing Parker being erratic and violent. Some of the witnesses reported being outside with their children in the front yard as Parker circled around, holding a gun, and they heard gunfire.
One man reported to police that he approached Parker, as he was walking with a handgun and ax, to ask what he was doing. Parker allegedly replied: “(Expletive) you” and then swung the ax at him several times.
Another witness reported being in the backyard when Parker suddenly appeared there holding the weapons. He told police that Parker pointed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger three times, though the gun did not fire, and he was able to escape by throwing a box of pottery at him.
Near the shooting scene, police searched through a Pontiac parked in the roadway near a stop sign with its door ajar. The vehicle had several spent shell casings in and around it. Other shell casings were found by crime scene investigators near the place where one man had been shot.
Parker was taken to the East Patrol station for booking. He declined to speak with detectives outside the presence of a lawyer, court papers say.
Court records did not list a defense attorney for Parker who could speak on his behalf.
In a calling for Parker to be held in jail on a high bond, a Kansas City police detective wrote in court papers that he demonstrated a clear danger to the community, saying he “terrorized an entire neighborhood” on Wednesday. She added that the only reason another person wasn’t shot that day was because Parker’s gun malfunctioned.
Records showed Parker was booked in the Jackson County jail as of Friday night. He was being held on a $150,000 bond.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 11:01 PM.
