KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man has been charged with firing a weapon into The Waldo Bar and a QuikTrip early Wednesday morning.
Wesley Barnes, 34, faces two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action.
According to court documents, around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18, a man entered the Waldo Bar. He ordered a beer and asked if the police were around. The bartender told him no, and he pulled out a handgun and placed it on the bar, saying he was a federal agent. The bartender asked him to leave, so he took the gun and left. The doorman said the man got into a white Audi A4.
Court documents say about a minute later people inside the bar heard gunshots, and the front door to the bar and a car were struck by bullets.
About 30 minutes later, the occupant of a white sedan traveling south on Wornall slowed down in front of the QuikTrip at 10232 Wornall Road and fired several bullets into the front of the store.
According to court documents, police traced Barnes through a credit card he presented at the bar.
On Wednesday night, police officers attempted to stop and arrest Barnes as he pulled up to his home in a white Audi A4, according to court documents. Barnes pulled the car into the garage, ignored the officers and fled into the house. Court documents say police surrounded the home, and when Barnes tried to flee out the back door he saw officers and went back inside.
Court documents say officers obtained a search warrant and entered the home early Thursday morning. Eventually, Barnes exited a crawl space in the attic and surrendered to officers.
Prosecutors requested a $200,000 bond.
Witness recalls the shooting
When Ashy Meeks assessed the damage to her car Wednesday afternoon she was thankful no one was hurt, The Waldo Bar.
Meeks told 41 Action News it began with a man who first stirred up trouble at Bobby Baker’s.
“A woman called into the bar to warn them about him because he was talking about hurting people that’s when he left the bar and they called the police. The police were looking for him,” Meeks said.
That man then walked into Meeks’ bar and ordered a Bud Light in an Eastern European accent.
“He immediately started asking if there were police around and told me that he was with Homeland Security,” Meeks said.
That's when Meeks said things took a turn for the worst.
“[He] pulled out his gun and set it on the bar and I do not allow that and I was like immediately ‘get out and please leave my bar,’” Meeks said.
Five minutes later she said the man pulled up in a white car and fired his gun in her direction
“Everyone hid behind the bar. My manager was in the office and she actually had headphones on. She thought maybe it was ice at first but it wasn’t,” Meeks said.
Shortly after security at Burns and McDonnell alerted police when one of their windows was shot out.
In a statement, a spokesperson wrote:
“Burns & McDonnell was a random target among a handful of other buildings overnight along the Wornall corridor. Burns & McDonnell security alerted police after a window at our world headquarters was shot out on the north side of the second floor of the building at 9450 Ward Parkway. Fortunately, no one was injured on campus and the window has been secured.”
Gunfire also shattered two windows at the QuikTrip on 103rd and Wornall Road. No one was hurt in this case either.
“I just know that he was a deranged individual, obviously, who decided to release his gun on multiple people in different areas,” Meeks said.
On Wednesday evening, The Waldo Bar hosted a fundraiser to help Meeks replace her car windows and fix the other damage her vehicle sustained. She has received a quote of $4,000.
A GoFundMe campaign has also been set up.
