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Fairway shooting suspect appears in court

Posted at 4:52 PM, Mar 04, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-04 18:45:50-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Monday law enforcement scoured the backyard of a Fairway house in search of shell casings from the bullets that police say Dylan Ruffin fired Friday afternoon.

One of them struck Highlands Elementary across the street, the same school a neighbor says Ruffin attended when he was a child.

Some parents have criticized the district's handling of Friday’s chain of events. However, the Shawnee Mission School District said they stand by their response.

"Really, I think we did everything we could. I don't think anybody imagined that how it ended up was how it ended up," David Smith, spokesperson for the district said.

Monday afternoon, Ruffin made his first court appearance

The 26-year-old was in a wheelchair after officers shot him on Friday.

While Fairway police are looking into how many times their officers have responded to the home at the corner of West 62nd and Roe, a look at Ruffin's criminal history paints a picture of a troubled young man.

In 2012, he was charged for possessing pot, synthetic marijuana and opioids. He served a year of probation.

In 2011 and 2014 he was charged for damaging property that belonged to his mother. As part of a plea deal for one of the cases, he was sent to a treatment facility out in California.

Ruffin is being held on a $500,000 bond. If he's able to come up with the money, he will have to undergo a mental health evaluation before leaving jail. Ruffin's next court hearing is on March 14.