ATV rider charged in KC shooting, narrowly missing kids. What led police to him
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas City man faces multiple felony charges in ATV shooting.
- City surveillance and public tips helped police identify and arrest the suspect.
- Shooting injured two adults and narrowly missed two children in vehicle.
Prosecutors have charged a Kansas City man after he and a group of ATV and dirt bike riders allegedly chased a vehicle and fired shots into it, injuring two adults and narrowly missing two children inside, according to police and court documents.
Jackson County prosecutors filed charges Friday against 22-year-old Lonny D. Waits Jr. of south Kansas City. Waits faces two counts of first-degree assault, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.
The incident marks the most recent violent episode involving groups of off-road vehicles in Kansas City, an ongoing problem that has sparked frustration and repeated calls for action from residents and city officials.
This latest shooting occurred around 11:30 p.m. Aug. 16 near East 27th Street and Indiana Avenue. The two adults suffered serious, but non-life-threatening, gunshot wounds. The children escaped injury.
Narrowly missed child’s car seat
Officers found five spent shell casings lying in the street. The victim’s vehicle had a shattered rear windshield and three bullet holes in the rear trunk lid. Additional bullet holes were located in the rear driver’s seat and front driver’s seat.
“It should be noted the bullet hole in the backseat was approximately one foot away from the child’s car seat where the 2-year-old was seated at the time of the shooting,” police said in court documents.
Three bullets and two bullet fragments were recovered from the victim’s vehicle. The driver’s side mirror was also bent outward and missing the mirror.
According to court documents, the adult female victim had just completed her DoorDash deliveries for the night when she noticed multiple ATVs and dirt bikes driving all over the road. She was stopped at a stoplight.
One of the riders of a dirt bike hit her driver’s side mirror with his fist. Another rider hit her vehicle with his dirt bike. As she drove away, more than a dozen dirt bikes and ATVs followed. The adult male victim said the group surrounded them and began kicking the vehicle while they were in motion, demanding that they pull over. The victim told police that they did not know why they were being followed.
When they neared 27th and Indiana, they heard five gunshots. The man said he bent over his two-year-old nephew to protect him. He told police he then felt pain in his lower back and realized he was shot. The next thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital. Medical staff told police the injuries included damage to his lungs and spleen.
The victim told police that the shooter was around 20 years old and was riding a blue, older model Kawasaki ATV with old fenders.
Meanwhile, the driver said she heard the shots, but couldn’t see who was shooting. She then pulled into a nearby gas station to call the police. She, too, had been shot.
City cameras captured the shooting. The shooter can be seen riding a blue ATV with a chrome-colored bumper, approaching the victim’s vehicle on the passenger side. The cameras caught muzzle flashes from the shooter’s hand.
The shooter was one of only two ATV riders in a large group of motorcycles and dirt bikes, according to court documents.
Tips lead to arrest
On Aug. 19, police released photos captured by the city cameras, asking for the public’s help in identifying the shooter. The next day, police received an anonymous tip through the TIPS Hotline giving them the name of a Facebook user as a possible suspect.
Upon searching the user’s profile page, detectives saw a large group photograph tagging individual Facebook users, including Lonny Waits.
Detectives searched computer records and found Waits listed as a self-proclaimed member of a criminal group known to frequently participate in illegal car shows and street racing in Kansas City, court documents stated.
An additional anonymous tip informed police that the group had been at a gas station in Wyandotte County about an hour before the shooting. Surveillance video from the gas station confirmed that the group had been there.
Waits’ face was allegedly captured on camera, showing he was riding a blue ATV with a chrome-colored bumper and wearing a blue medical boot on his right foot, a detail police said helped identify him from city camera footage.
Around 4:40 p.m. Friday, officers saw Waits leave his home in a tan Ford Ranger with a Kansas license plate. When police did a record check, the license plate came back as being registered to a 1997 Chevrolet Blazer.
Officers pulled Waits over on a traffic violation and during the stop allegedly observed a Glock 29, 10mm semi-automatic handgun under the driver’s seat. It was allegedly loaded with 10 rounds, with one in the chamber. Officers took Waits into custody.
Waits declined to provide a statement and requested a lawyer.
Waits was being held in Jackson County jail on $200,000 bond. A bond review hearing is set for 9:15 a.m. Sept. 2.
