Blue Springs teen possibly killed over marijuana, gun deal gone wrong: Court records
Detectives investigating how a 15-year-old was shot dead in a Blue Springs church parking lot on Saturday evening were searching for a connection to suspects possibly involved in an arrangement to sell marijuana and buy a gun.
The shooting unfolded around 6:30 p.m. outside Church of the Resurrection, 601 N.E. Jefferson Street, after teenager Wyatt D. Conroy showed up there with a fellow Blue Springs School District student. Both had arranged to make a purchase of marijuana from unknown persons there that evening, investigators found.
Surveillance cameras from the church recorded a white Pontiac sedan arrive in the parking lot at 6:31 p.m. Over the course of about two minutes, a witness told police, Conroy discussed buying the pot and selling his gun to someone in the car.
The conversation about the gun came up when Conroy noticed one of the car’s occupants had a handgun in his lap. Conroy then removed his own gun to show it off, before saying he would sell it on the spot for $400, according to court records.
Conroy handed the gun off to a person in the backseat of the Pontiac through a partially opened rear window, court papers say. Shortly afterward the car took off, Conroy grabbed onto it, and was dragged a short distance. Then someone within allegedly fired a single shot that struck the teenager in the head.
A car that matched the description of the one involved in the shooting was found that evening in a Kansas City alleyway. Firefighters were called after someone reported there was a vehicle burning. It was towed away, stored, and searched by police, though it was unclear as of Thursday whether the vehicle was positively identified as the one used in the shooting.
Over the past few days, detectives investigating the case have filed applications for a series of search warrants seeking information from Snapchat accounts where the drug transaction was allegedly arranged.
On Monday, two additional warrants were granted for search of laptops issued by the Blue Springs School District, including one assigned to Conroy.
Police had announced no arrests in connection with the killing as of Thursday. In a statement, Blue Springs police said investigators from different Kansas City metro agencies had worked “tirelessly” to solve the case and found dozens of leads, but were still looking for assistance from the public.
“We want justice for Wyatt and closure for his family,” the department said in its statement. “Your tip may be the one who provides this for him.”
Blue Springs police were asking for anyone with information in the killing to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 7:51 PM.
