Suspect allegedly drives kidnapping victims around for hours after Lee’s Summit shooting
A suspect in a Lee’s Summit kidnapping and shooting was arrested late Saturday after a multi-county chase in Missouri, the Johnson County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Office announced on Facebook.
Lee’s Summit police responded to the shooting at about 5:20 p.m. Saturday at the Crossroads of Lee’s Summit apartments in the 2200 block of Northeast Town Center Boulevard, Sgt. Chris Depue, a spokesman for the Lee’s Summit Police, said in a news release.
Arriving officers found a back door unlocked and entered the home. Inside, they found a 43-year-old man who had been shot several times. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit Monday morning, Depue said. The shooting has left the victim paralyzed from the neck down, according to court documents.
Working with Kansas City police, officers identified a 33-year-old woman who had been kidnapped from the shooting scene along with a child, under the age of 18.
According to court documents, the events unfolded over more than 19 hours Saturday, culminating with the suspect’s arrest.
‘Don’t be a hero’
Police first learned of the shooting and kidnappings after the woman and child were dropped off on Holiday Drive in Kansas City and contacted Kansas City police. She told them that a homicide had occurred in her apartment, and she had been kidnapped afterward.
Lee’s Summit detectives soon met with the victim, who told them she was at home with the shooting victim and a child when she said 33-year-old Kody Michael Holmes arrived with another child, identified as victim 4 in court documents.
The shooting victim and Holmes began to argue after 4 a.m., which led to a physical fight, she said. The woman told police the shooting victim told her Holmes had pulled out a gun.
At one point, Holmes allegedly fired two shots, striking the victim in the leg. The woman helped the victim retreat into a bedroom. Holmes allegedly followed and fired another shot. The shooting victim fled into the bedroom’s bathroom, and Holmes allegedly fired a shot through the bathroom’s door, according to court documents.
Holmes allegedly turned to the woman and said, “Don’t be a hero,” or he would kill the child. The woman left the bedroom and heard another shot and screams of the shooting victim. She also heard Holmes allegedly tell the victim he was going to die slowly.
Holmes then ordered the woman, her child and the other child into the bedroom. Although the shooting victim yelled for help from the bathroom, Holmes allegedly wouldn’t allow the woman to speak to or help him. Over the next few hours, Holmes held the woman and child at gunpoint. At times, he allegedly held a gun to their heads. He also fired a shot past the woman’s head before doing the same to the child.
After becoming paranoid that police might be outside, Holmes allegedly fired two more shots through the closed bathroom door. When the woman went to help the victim, Holmes allegedly pushed her away, cracked the door open and fired another round.
Holmes allegedly told the woman: “He’s gone, that was a face shot.”
He then ordered the woman and the two children into his black Dodge Challenger, and they drove away. The woman noticed his clock said it was 10:40 a.m.
Holmes allegedly drove around, stopping at a Phillip’s 66 at an unknown location when the children became thirsty. As Holmes drove around, the woman asked him to drop her and her child off. After several hours, Holmes stopped and allowed he woman and her child to leave. The woman contacted the shooting victim’s family and then the police at about 4:50 p.m.
Chase after suspect spotted on U.S. 50
Around 11 p.m., a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper spotted the suspect’s vehicle headed east on U.S. 50 highway from Jackson County into Johnson County, the sheriff’s office said. The suspect was allegedly armed and had a child under the age of 18 with him.
With the help of sheriff’s deputies, the trooper attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the driver failed to stop. Deputies used a device to try to deflate the vehicle’s tires. As the chase entered Warrensburg, police also used additional devices to deflate the tires, the sheriff’s office said.
The car didn’t stop, and the suspect headed back west on U.S. 50 highway on deflated tires. During the pursuit, the suspect rammed a deputy’s patrol vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
Cass County Sheriff deputies responded to the pursuit and used a grappling device to help stop the fleeing vehicle, which was then being driven on the tires’ rims. The suspect lost control of the vehicle and stopped in the 1800 block of Northwest U.S. 50 highway, about seven miles east of Lone Jack.
The sheriff’s office said the suspect, a 33-year-old man, surrendered to law enforcement and was arrested. They also found a child passenger, who was unharmed.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Kody Michael Holmes of Lee’s Summit Sunday evening with one count of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree kidnapping and three counts of armed criminal action, all felonies.
This story was originally published September 30, 2024 at 12:34 PM.
