KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A south Kansas City, Missouri, man faces several charges in a shooting earlier this month involving operators of dirt bikes and ATVs.
According to court documents filed Saturday, one of the victims told police they had just completed DoorDash deliveries in the area of 18th and Grand in Kansas City, Missouri, when they were surrounded by 10 dirt bikers and 4-wheelers. The victim told police they were followed as they drove to 27th and Indiana.
Eventually, one of the operators opened fire on the victim's car, striking a man and a woman. Two children, ages 14 and 2, were also in the car at the time of the shooting, but neither was struck. One of the bullets was just a foot away from the car seat where the child had been sitting.
According to court documents, city cameras captured the shooting. The video captured a rider of one of the ATVs approaching the vehicle from the passenger side and opening fire. As many as five shots were fired.
Two days after the shooting, Kansas City, Missouri, police distributed still photos of the riders of the ATVs and dirt bikes.
The next day, an anonymous tip was made through KC Crime Stoppers. It included a link to a Facebook profile of a possible subject.
Detectives traced the subject back to a group that’s known to participate in illegal car shows and street racing around the area.
A second tipster said the group had been seen at a Wyandotte County gas station about an hour before the shooting.
Detectives obtained surveillance video from the gas station, which showed the rider of the ATV who opened fire on the victims.
On Friday, Aug. 22, police took the suspect, Lonny Waits, 22, into custody. Waits declined to participate in questioning and requested an attorney.
Waits was booked into the Jackson County Detention Center and charged with two counts of first-degree assault, one count of shooting at a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal action. Each charge is a felony.
Prosecutors requested Waits be held on $200,000 bond.
He made his initial appearance Monday morning in front of a Jackson County Circuit Court judge. He’s set to return to court for a bond review hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 2.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
