INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg inside the Independence Center on Thursday evening, prompting the mall to close the rest of the night.
Law enforcement personnel from several jurisdictions (including Independence, Kansas City, Missouri, and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department) responded to the incident, according to an Independence police officer who handles the investigation.
An altercation between two groups of people preceded the shooting, according to Officer John Syme, a spokesman for the Independence Police Department.
Police arrested another person at the scene and were looking for other people involved in the initial speech, Syme said.
“We’re looking for other people involved,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re suspects or victims. It just means they’re involved in the incident in some way. They may have seen something. They may also have been directly a part of it.”
The Independence Police Department confirmed the shooting in a post on Facebook around 6 p.m., asking the public to move away from the Independence Center.
The mall closed for the night.
“Police officers were working off duty and heard gunshots,” Independence police said in a post on Facebook. “He located a subject who shot him in the leg and provided him with medical assistance to save his life. The subject, a 16-year-old man, was transported to a hospital in the area. Another subject has been arrested.”
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the shooting occurred near Dick’s Sporting Goods, located on the west side of the mall.
Off-duty officers applied “a pair” of tourniquets to the teenager who shot the victim in the leg to stop the bleeding before they took him to a nearby hospital.
Police will review security images of the mall as part of the investigation.
Independence Center has been in the news recently after large-scale fights it led city leaders to impose a curfew in neglected minors near the mall and other malls along this corridor.
Several minors were later arrested several hundred teenagers caused problems, including a handful of fights, in late October.
At least 10 people were arrested last weekend after another series of disturbances.
Companies in the area have been adjusting to the curfew amid the rise of incidents at the mall, which was rescued from the mall on the verge of a foreclosure sale in February 2018, from Pacific Retail Capital Partners.
–
For jurisdictions that use the Kansas City Crime Caps Hotline, anonymous tips can be made. by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), sending advice online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.
You can check the details and annual data on homicides in the Kansas City area through the 41 Action News Homicide Tracker, which was released in 2015. Read all 41 action news Cup shooting policy.