A Kansas City police sergeant recounts the shooting he responded to nine years ago Friday – at the Ward Parkway Center.
Sgt. Eric Dillenkoffer can still remember the day vividly.
“It was a Sunday,” he said, recalling April 29, 2007. “The radio calls started coming in about having an active shooter at the mall."
Dillenkoffer was a part of the homicide unit then.
“It was just chaos when we got out there,” he said. "You get that overwhelming sense of, ‘Are we going to be able to handle this?’"
He was one of dozens of officers who responded that day.
Two people were shot and killed in their cars. The shooter, who was a former Target security guard, was killed by police inside Target.
"My visions of that place are the visions from that time. I can remember vividly the outside of the mall, just how everything was,” Dillenkoffer explained.
Nine years later, it’s hard to believe the shooting happened.
Legacy Development has since acquired the property and on Thursday, announced plans for a $16 million addition, including five new restaurants.
“We've invested a lot of time, effort and money into keeping the Ward Parkway Center working and constantly evolving it, and that hard work has paid off,” said spokesperson Dave Claflin.
Construction is set to begin next month. The new addition will open in spring of 2017.
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at lexi.sutter@kshb.com.
