Authorities: Suspect in Amber Alert was in custody before alert was issued

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Authorities say the suspect in an Amber Alert, who has also been identified as a person of interest in a fatal double shooting in Kansas City, Kan., was in police custody before the alert was even issued.

According to KCK Police, Lorenzo M. Pulliam picked up his son, 7-month-old Lorenzo M. Pulliam Jr., at the boy’s mother’s house Thursday morning. Captain Bill Howard said the mother reported Pulliam’s behavior to be odd.

“He went home, grabbed his child in a haste, and there was some concern about the safety of that child,” Howard explained.

Pulliam picked up her son shortly after a double shooting in the 3100 block of W. 45th Street that left one man dead and another injured. KCK police immediately kicked up an investigation. Initial findings pointed to Pulliam as a person of interest in the case. Investigators began to search for the 28-year-old man.

The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department alerted media to an AMBER Alert for the younger Pulliam at 11:29 a.m. By about 11:50, a police dispatcher confirmed the boy had been found.

“In this particular case, we were concerned for the child's state of mind after being involved in the incident and we were obviously concerned about what he could do with the child,” Howard said.

Authorities told 41 Action News the infant was found at the family friend’s house in the 4100 block of Minnie.

At that time, officials with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department said they were still looking for the boy’s father, who they called “armed and dangerous.”

However, authorities later told 41 Action News the elder Pulliam had turned himself in to the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office on outstanding warrants a little before 9 a.m.

“Somebody can say they're turning themselves in and not verbalize why they are turning themselves in and, sure enough, you find out they are wanted for a horrible crime. And it's by our people doing their job and finding a computer [file] that leads them to that investigation,” explained Lt. Kelli Bailiff of the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department.

She believes the department was vital to Thursday’s homicide investigation. Right when Pulliam was about to be released from jail, a deputy did a final check for his name in the system.

“The last step before we walk him out the door is for one of the officers to then run that person through the computer,” Bailiff explained.

“When they are running a person, it's through NCIC, which is a national program so potentially he could have committed a crime in another state or locally through any department and it's a living document,” she continued. “I mean within two minutes, a minute, 30 seconds, you could add a pick up order or a warrant.”

The timing was perfect.

KCK detectives entered the investigation information into the computer moments before Pulliam was released. The deputy behind the computer could see he was a person of interest in the case.

“She kept a man from being back out on the streets who could have been potentially very dangerous,” Bailiff said about the deputy who caught the new pick-up order in the system.

Pulliam was kept for questioning.

No one has been charged in the Amber Alert or the double shooting.

Stay with 41 Action News for updates on this case.