Jackson Co. prosecutors charge 27-year-old in recent highway shootings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 27-year-old man has been charged for the string of highway shootings in the Kansas City metro.
On Friday, Jackson County prosecutors charged Mohammed P. Whitaker with 18 felony charges spanning nine separate highway shooting incidents that occurred in the last two months. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced two A felony charges of shooting into a motor vehicle and striking someone, seven B felony charges for shooting into a motor vehicle and nine separate counts of armed criminal action.
Whitaker is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond. He could possibly face additional charges.
The victims range from residences all throughout the metro area. Three people have been injured after being struck by gunfire, police said, and there have been a total of 13 shootings since early March.
"This has impacted all of us," Baker said.
Whitaker was taken into custody Thursday night at a home in Grandview, Mo., which is about 150 feet from 71 Highway.
On April 9, police responded to a tip from a witness who claimed to have found ammunition in a plastic bag along the roadway, according to the probable cause statement . It goes on to say ATF officials ran the plastic for prints, which matched Whitaker's. The ammunition boxes were also tested for prints, which were again matched to him.
The probable cause goes on to name a number of key pieces of evidence and incidents during their surveillance. On April 11, officers watched as Whitaker tried to buy a .380 handgun with laser sight from an individual in the parking lot of Bass Pro Shops in Independence, the statement reads. Two days later, police saw him wearing a black hoodie and sunglasses, matching the description given by several victims. On April 16, officers saw him driving erratically on 71, darting to drive side-by-side with a car.
Whitaker's criminal past in Missouri includes refusing a breathalyzer and traffic citations in 2006 for speeding and driving without a license. For a 2011 driving under the influence charge, he was placed on two years of unsupervised probation.
The probable cause also mentions a previous aggravated assault incident back in October of 2013 when a bullet was shot into a home right in front of the residence Whitaker occasionally stayed at. The bullet from that incident matches the bullets in 11 of the highway shootings.
In a news conference Friday afternoon, Chief Forte thanked the community for their tips and cooperation in the investigation, as well as area law enforcement.
"We wouldn't be here but for the tips that came in," Baker said.
Police do not have a motive at this time.
"We're not done yet," Chief Forte said of the investigation.