KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An 18-year-old male is now charged with allegedly flashing a loaded firearm in front of several students on Monday morning outside of Kearney Junior High School.
Just after 8 a.m. Monday, a school resource officer working on the school campus received a phone call from the principal of the high school reporting that a student was possibly in possession of a gun on school grounds.
The SRO responded to a parking lot near the tennis courts and located two possible suspects walking toward the school.
One of the two suspects, a juvenile, told the SRO they did not have anything on them, so the officer asked to search the vehicle they arrived in.
The juvenile then reportedly told the officer there was a gun under the passenger seat.
Officers eventually located a loaded Smith & Wesson handgun under the passenger seat of the vehicle.
Several witnesses told police they saw one of the suspects, later identified as 18-year-old Conner James Ford, with a gun in his hand and the waistband of his pants in the parking lot.
Ford and the juvenile were taken into custody.
Late Monday, the Clay County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Ford with one count of felony unlawful use of a loaded weapon on school grounds.
Ford posted $5,000 bond and was released from custody late Monday.
Ford was arraigned in Clay County Circuit Court in a hearing Tuesday morning. He's set to return to court for a hearing on Dec. 2.
If convicted, Ford faces a prison term not to exceed four years, or one year in the county jail and a possible fine not to exceed $10,000.
Information about any charges facing the juvenile was not immediately available.
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