Deputy recounts being shot during Kansas City, Kan., robbery

Disarmed and lying facedown on the floor, Scott Wood felt bullet after bullet striking his body.

It was just after 1 a.m. March 4, and moments earlier, the off-duty Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy had stopped at a Kansas City, Kan., convenience store to check on the clerk.

That’s when three armed robbers burst in and got the drop on Wood, shooting him seven times before they fled.

On Thursday, Wood gave his first public account of that terrifying encounter during a preliminary hearing for the three men accused of shooting and robbing him that day.

Charles D. Bowser, 18, of Kansas City, Dyron M. King, 24, and Cecil D. Meggerson, 35, both of Kansas City, Kan., are charged in Wyandotte County District Court with attempted capital murder.

They are also charged with committing two armed business robberies, including the one where Wood was shot.

Assistant District Attorney Kristiane Bryant also presented evidence of three other armed robberies that occurred on the Missouri side of the state line that police say were committed by the same men.

Wood testified that he had just gotten off work and was driving home when he decided to stop at the 7-Eleven on Shawnee Drive near Interstate 635.

“I felt compelled to stop and check on the clerk,” he said, noting that he had not originally intended to stop there.

Inside the store, Wood and clerk Daniel Bayer made small talk about fishing but also talked about store security.

Wood said he was concerned that the clerk worked the overnight shift alone. Wood had his back to the front door when he said Bayer abruptly stopped talking.

“I turned around and there was a man standing with a gun in my face,” the deputy said.

Two other men, at least one also armed with a gun, came in with the gunman.

Wood, who was in uniform, said he raised his hands and lay facedown on the ground. He heard the men yelling at the clerk, telling him to give them money or they would shoot him.

“He told me not to move or he would kill me,” Wood said.

As he lay there, Wood said he heard one of the men yell, “He’s got a gun,” after noticing Wood’s holstered handgun. The man attempted to take Wood’s weapon but could not get it out of the holster, he said.

That’s when Wood was struck in the back of the head several times with a blunt object. The man was then able to take the gun.

Seconds later, Wood said he heard a shot and “felt pain in my right jaw.”

He could feel his mouth filling with blood and knew he had been shot.

Then more shots were fired, and Wood said he could feel multiple bullets hitting his body.

One struck his right shoulder, and five struck his upper abdomen and lower chest on the left side. When the robbers fled, Wood said he tried to get up.

“I could see a massive amount of blood on the floor,” he said.

He was not able to identify the men who shot him. They were wearing masks and gloves.

Wood spent more than two weeks in the hospital. His lungs collapsed during his stay, he said. He also underwent reconstructive surgery to repair his jaw.

Other testimony Thursday came from Bayer and employees of four other businesses that were robbed by three masked and armed men.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Friday.

This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Deputy recounts being shot during Kansas City, Kan., robbery."