3 dead after suburban Kansas City shooting
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| A Kansas State Trooper stands near the location of a shooting at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan., Sunday, April 13, 2014. |
OVERLAND PARK,
Kan. (AP) -- A man in his 70s opened fire Sunday outside of a Jewish
community center and nearby retirement community, killing three people,
authorities said.
Overland Park Police Chief
John Douglass said at a news conference Sunday evening that a person who
had been reported to be in critical condition earlier was among three
killed in the attacks, which apparently occurred minutes apart.
"Today
is a sad and very tragic day," Douglass said. "As you might imagine we
are only three hours into this investigation. There's a lot of innuendo
and a lot of assertions going around. There is really very little
hardcore information."
Shots were fired behind
the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in a parking lot
about 1 p.m., Douglass said. One male died at the scene, another male
died at a hospital. The gunman then fled and opened fire at nearby
Village Shalom, killing a female, before later being arrested near an
elementary school. Two other people were shot at, but the gunfire missed
them, Douglass said.
Douglass said it was too
early in the investigation to determine if the shootings were hate
crimes. The Jewish festival of Passover begins Monday.
"We
know it was a vicious act of violence, and we know obviously it was at
two Jewish facilities. One might make that assumption," Douglass said.
He
described the suspect as a white man in his 70s who is not from Kansas.
He said the suspect is being held at the Johnson County Detention
Center, but did not provide further information.
"We
have no indication he knew the victims," Douglass said, adding that the
suspect was not known to Kansas City-area authorities before the
shootings. Douglass said a shotgun was used, and investigators were
trying to determine whether a handgun and assault-style rifle also were
involved.
The Jewish Community Center of
Greater Kansas City in Overland Park posted on its Facebook page Sunday
afternoon that a "shooting incident" happened near its White Theater
entrance.
"Everyone participating in JCC programming has been released to their homes," the center posted later Sunday.
There
was a heavy police presence at the campus, which spans several acres in
an affluent area of Johnson County, Kan. Police had also taped off the
entrance to Village Shalom on Sunday afternoon, and several patrol cars
and a crime scene unit van were parked in front.
St.
Louis resident Kristy Straeb, 47, said her sister-in-law Stacie
Ventimiglia was at the center's pool with a friend and four little girls
under the age of 7 for a swimming lesson, which ended about 12:45 p.m.
Straeb said they decided at the last minute to get the girls showered.
"They
had just gotten the four babies naked, and somebody yelled into the
family locker room, `We have an active shooter situation. You need to
get safe,'" Straeb said.
The women got into a
cubby area and were "ready to push the little girls into 4 empty
lockers," Straeb said. She noted that the women and their children were
not harmed and left the center about 2:45 p.m. Sunday.
Auditions
for the KC SuperStar competition were scheduled to be held Sunday at
the Jewish Community Center. On Sunday afternoon, the website for KC
SuperStar, which is a singing competition for high school students, said
the auditions were cancelled.
