One person has been charged in a deadly shooting in an Olathe bar.
Olathe police said 38-year-old William Schutkesting of Olathe was shot and killed inside the Double Nickel Bar & Grill late Wednesday night.
Sergeant Bryan Hill said officers responded to the bar around 11:30 p.m. after a report of shots fired. When they arrived, officers found Schutkesting suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He later died at the scene.
An Olathe K-9 officer and his partner located the suspect, 28-year-old Michael Chinn Jr. of Augusta, Kansas, near the scene and took him into custody. Chinn is charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharging a firearm in an occupied dwelling. Bond is set at $1 million.
Police said no one else was hurt in the shooting.
The Double Nickel Bar & Grill posted on its Facebook page it will be closed until further notice. Before 6 p.m. Thursday, it posted that it was back open that night. Several people commented in disbelief.
And we are open! Free poker with Belinda at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. come early for bonus chips and sharing this post!
Posted by Double Nickel Olathe's Best Kept Secret on Thursday, March 31, 2016
Around 9:20 p.m., Double Nickel Bar & Grill explained in the comments why they chose to reopen Thursday:
"We are extremely sorry if we have offended anyone by being open especially the family but we have people that come here that this is their only family and they are finding solice in being together, we also have staff that relies on their job to make ends meet and take care of children. No harm was intended by any means."
Lumpy's, located at 1505 East 151st in Olathe, is holding a $5 buy-in pool tournament fundraiser Friday and Saturday night to help the victim's family.
"I don't think there was one person who didn't like [Schutkesting] that met him. He was rowdy. He was funny. He was loud. He was, was happy. When he walked into a room you definitely knew Billy was here," said Diana Provence, from Lumpy's.
Chinn's first court appearance is set for Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Johnson County.
This case remains under investigation by the Olathe Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to call the Olathe Police Department at 913-971-6950 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com.
