Former student pleads guilty in 2022 Olathe East High School shooting: Court documents
A former Olathe East High School student has entered a guilty plea in association with a shooting on school grounds in 2022.
Jaylon Elmore, 21, opened fire at Olathe East on March 4, 2022, injuring a school resource officer. A school administrator was also injured in the shooting.
Elmore pleaded guilty on Friday in Johnson County court to attempted premeditated murder and firearm possession by a felon. As part of the plea deal finalized Friday, two additional misdemeanor charges of criminal use of a weapon were thrown out.
Around 10:30 a.m. on the day of the shooting, a student told an administrator that another student — later identified as Elmore — had brought a gun in their backpack, according to court documents. The administrator went to school resource officer and Olathe police officer Erik Clark, who attempted to search Elmore’s backpack.
Elmore, then 18, refused to let Clark search his bag, according to court records. Instead, Elmore allegedly retrieved a handgun from inside the bag and fired about five rounds, hitting Clark in the chest and leg.
Clark returned fire, according to court records, hitting Elmore and assistant principal Kaleb Stoppel. All three were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. All three survived.
Olathe East was placed on lockdown during the shooting and for several hours afterwards.
“I TOLD YOU NOT TO EVEN HAVE THAT GUN ON YOU,” a female associate, whose name was redacted on court documents, had texted Elmore right after the shooting.
After multiple surgeries, Elmore was discharged from the hospital in May 2022 and booked into the Johnson County Detention Center. Elmore initially pleaded not guilty to all charges in February 2023.
Elmore had transferred from the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School District to Olathe East, where he played varsity football and ran track, shortly before the shooting. He was previously convicted in juvenile court of robbery for stealing a wallet in 2020. He served six months of probation.
Elmore will next appear in court on January 22 for a pre-trial conference.
Previous reporting by The Star’s Jenna Thompson, Robert A. Cronkleton and Laura Bauer contributed to this article.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM.
