Update: The Kansas City Star, to its credit, has reported the race of the perpetrator: “Lacy said police were looking for an African-American male driving a red pickup.”
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Those suburbanites who were tsk-tsking last week about a day time shoot-out in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza got a wake-up call last night at the Oak Park Mall in Overland Park.
About 8:15 p.m. one man began shooting at two others in the mall’s parking lot at 95th and Quivira. By all accounts, the men knew each other. The two men reportedly ran into the mall to escape the shooter, who kept firing after them, shattering the glass doors at the mall’s entrance and causing widespread panic.
At least one of the men seems to have been shot as Overland Park Police found a blood trail inside the mall near the food court, but the shooter and his targets all fled the scene.
According to KCTV-5, “The police are looking for a suspect in a red pickup truck.” The truck was captured on surveillance video. According to KSHB-TV, witnesses did see the shooter, but authorities provided no description. A neighbor told the police he saw one man run through his backyard but again no description.
After the Kansas City Star scolded the KCPD for reporting the race of a shoot-out suspect at large last week, it is unlikely the OP Police will make that mistake. Better to leave the public in the dark.
“While police acted quickly to keep the public safe, a tweet from the department’s official Twitter page was an unacceptable misstep,” the Star reported. The “misstep” was to send out the following tweet:
“We are still looking for one more subject of interest. The only description we have right now is a black male. So we ask everyone around the area to please be aware of their surroundings. And we continue to ask those who are not already @ThePlazaKC to avoid the area.”
The Oak Park Mall was shut down as well last night but will reopen on Saturday.