KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 26-year-old Kansas City man was charged Tuesday with a Class D felony in connection with a shooting incident earlier in the week outside Independence Center.
Russell D. Reed faces one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. The charge stems from a shootout that took place Monday afternoon in a parking lot outside the mall on East 39th Street in Independence.
Independence police responded to a shots fired call shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Monday on a road near the Independence Center parking lot.
Two people in a silver Cadillac XTS flagged down a responding officer.
One said he’d been shot as he was driving out of the parking lot. Police said Monday that one person was shot in the head, but didn't suffer a life-threatening injury.
Both passengers in the vehicle said they were confronted by an unknown man in the mall, who threatened them. The unknown male with “pointy dreads” went to the parking lot ahead of them and opened fire on the Cadillac as it drove away from the mall.
According to one of the passengers, the man who was shot returned fire with a Glock 19 9mm handgun. The shooting victim later admitted to returning fire when interviewed at a local hospital.
He said he tossed the gun out a window, but Independence police detectives were unable to recover the weapon.
Reed has a prior felony conviction for resisting by fleeing from October 2019 in Clinton County, Missouri, and isn’t allowed to possess a firearm as a result.
Reed could face one to seven years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
The shooting was the second in less than a week at Independence Center. A 16-year-old was shot in the leg inside the mall on New Year's Eve.
Amid several incidents with uncontrolled teens causing problems and starting fights at the mall, Independence enacted a weekend curfew around the mall and other retail centers in November.
It was extended during the holiday season as incidents continued.
Independence Center announced that the curfew has now been extended to after 3 p.m. every day of the week after the latest incident.
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