Shooting on I-435 allegedly spurred by bullying at school: court documents
A man accused of shooting at a man on a Kansas City highway is facing assault charges, court documents show.
Dorian Fuel Jr., 19, is charged with one count each of first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action, according to a Jackson County charging document.
Officers with the Kansas City Police Department were dispatched to the area of Interstate 435 and Holmes Road around 2 p.m. on Dec. 16 on reports of a shooting, according to a probable cause statement in support of Fuel’s arrest.
There, officers discovered a man on the side of the highway, in the southbound lanes, with a gunshot wound to his leg, according to the probable cause statement. The man’s vehicle, a 2026 Volkswagen Jetta, had several bullet holes on the driver’s side .
The probable cause statement said officers found blood and several bullet fragments inside the vehicle. The man was taken to an area hospital, where he received treatment.
The man told officers that he and a woman had stopped at an area QuikTrip before getting on I-435 , according to the probable cause statement. The pair didn’t “talk or interact with anyone” at the gas station.
The man told officers when he got on the highway, he was shot. He couldn’t remember details surrounding the incident, including what the other vehicle looked like and what circumstances could have led to the shooting.
When officers asked the man who may have wanted to hurt him, the man became quiet before mentioning someone named “Dorian” may have been to blame for the incident, according to the probable cause statement.
He told investigators that a family member had recently died by suicide partly due to alleged bullying at school at the hands of Fuel and another individual, according to the probable cause statement.
The probable cause statement said Fuel was allegedly “talking sh*t” on social media. The man had recently run into Fuel at a Chipotle, where the pair reportedly shared an angry encounter.
Officers were able to identify Fuel as the alleged shooter through eyewitness accounts and camera footage from the city, nearby businesses and body-worn camera footage from a previous traffic stop involving Fuel , according to the probable cause statement.
Fuel had previously been arrested on Sept. 18 on marijuana charges, according to the probable cause statement. During that arrest, officers reportedly found a handgun in a backpack.
In an interview with officers, one of Fuel’s relatives told officers they had received a call from one of Fuel’s friends days prior in which the friend told them Fuel had arrived at the friend’s house after being “shot at,” the probable cause statement said.
Fuel allegedly told the friend he went to QuikTrip and “had words with some people there,” the probable cause statement said. Fuel said the people followed him out of the parking lot and shot at him on the highway.
Camera footage did not show Fuel inside the gas station at the same time as the victim, according to the probable cause statement.
The document alleges Fuel was parked in a parking lot across the street from the gas station while the victim was inside. He waited until the victim’s vehicle left the gas station before leaving and catching up the victim’s vehicle.
In an interview with police, Fuel said he was going to the post office when he saw an SUV behind him, according to the probable cause statement. He said he made “several turns” through the neighborhood, during which the SUV “continued to follow him.”
Fuel told investigators he began to head toward QuikTrip when he noticed the vehicle was still following him, the probable cause statement said. He said he began to drive “crazy” before getting onto I-435, where someone in the SUV allegedly began to shoot at his vehicle.
The probable cause statement alleges Fuel told officers his vehicle wasn’t struck because he was “swerving all over the lanes.” He said he does not own a gun.
When officers pointed out alleged inconsistencies in Fuel’s statement, the man began to shake, his pupils dilated and face paled, according to the probable cause statement.
Fuel is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $100,000 10% bond, according to the jail’s inmate listing.
He is set to appear for a bond review hearing on Dec. 30, according to court records.
