Man accused of shooting woman in wake of afternoon traffic collision in Kansas City
A 26-year-old man faces four felony charges in connection with a Kansas City shooting that left a woman hospitalized with serious injuries in late October.
Tyshun M. Collins, of Kansas City, was arrested Friday and charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with first-degree assault, three counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly firing into a white sedan that was involved in a collision with another vehicle in the Ivanhoe Southwest neighborhood. As of Monday night, Collins was being held in the Jackson County jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
According to court records, Kansas City police officers and other emergency personnel were called to the site of the shooting near the intersection of 39th Street and Wayne Avenue around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 25.
Responding officers found the gunshot victim, who appeared to be losing consciousness, in a white Ford Focus. She was transported by ambulance to the hospital with serious injuries and remained in critical condition as of last week, a Kansas City police detective wrote in a probable cause statement seeking criminal charges for Collins.
One piece of evidence recovered by police was a dashboard camera seen inside the gunshot victim’s vehicle after it was towed away from the shooting scene.
The video showed a Chevy S-10 pickup with Missouri plates go into oncoming traffic to pass the Focus, then make contact as the pickup pulled directly in front of the gunshot victim and then slammed on the brakes. The Ford struck the pickup’s rear end after the sudden stop, according to court records.
The video then shows the driver and sole occupant, identified by police as Collins, exit the passenger side of the pickup and immediately begin firing several gunshots. The firearm is placed back inside the pickup, which is then seen driving away west down East 39th Street.
Detectives were unable to interview the shooting victim as of Friday as she remained intubated at the hospital.
But one witness, a neighbor, reported hearing several gunshots and looking out the window to see a man pointing a gun at the driver of a white sedan following an apparent collision. He also told police he went over to the shooting scene to help the woman while yelling for someone to call 911.
Information gathered by investigators, including the dashboard camera footage, led detectives to identify Collins as the suspect in the shooting. He was arrested and taken to East Patrol on Friday afternoon.
During an interview with detectives, Collins allegedly said he gets paranoid because of a mental health condition and thought he was being chased by someone that day. He allegedly admitted to firing at the vehicle hood and ground after both vehicles stopped, and “began to cry” once he was told a woman had been shot multiple times.
Collins allegedly described clearing his personal belongings from the truck except for the gun after it broke down in Kansas City, Kansas. He also was taken in for psychiatric care at an area hospital until his arrest Friday, according to court documents.
Court records did not list a defense attorney for Collins as of Monday evening.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 9:56 PM.
