Kansas City police seek ‘dangerous’ man who robbed McDonald’s, shot at cops in Brookside
Police were searching for a man who allegedly fired shots during a McDonald’s robbery in Waldo, engaged Kansas City cops in a Brookside Plaza gun battle and then escaped in a carjacked vehicle on Thursday night.
No crime victims or police officers were struck by gunfire, said Capt. Corey Carlisle, a Kansas City Police Department spokesman, and police had not found any signs of the suspect being treated at an area hospital for gunshot wounds. As of early Friday morning, the stolen vehicle had been found but the man remained at large.
Carlisle described a dangerous encounter Thursday as officers had exchanged gunfire with a suspect twice near the Brookside Plaza area while business patrons were out.
“We’re just thankful and fortunate that no one got hurt during these dangerous exchanges,” Carlisle said, adding that the suspect “definitely poses a threat to the community.”
The suspect is described by police as a white male, believed to be in his early 30s. He has a thin build, a patchy black beard and shoulder-length black hair, police said.
Police officers were first called around 9 p.m. for a reported armed robbery in Waldo at the McDonald’s at 8326 Wornall Road. Shots were fired at employees during the robbery, Carlisle said, and the man shot at an occupied vehicle after leaving the fast-food restaurant.
Officers were following up on the robbery investigation when roughly an hour later, around 10:10 p.m., the vehicle thought to have been used by the suspect was found roughly three miles north at Brookside Boulevard and Meyer Boulevard.
After the officers found the vehicle, the suspect allegedly fired a gun at the officers, who then returned fire.
The suspect then fled on foot to a parking lot behind area businesses as police followed.
He carjacked an “unsuspecting” couple, Carlisle said, and fired more gunshots at the officers chasing after him. Those officers returned fire again before he fled the area.
Shortly afterward, another police agency located the carjacked vehicle abandoned near 73rd Street and Cherokee Road in Prairie Village.
As of early Friday morning, Carlisle said police were working to processing that vehicle for evidence along with the other area crime scenes. A large part of the Brookside Plaza remained roped off by police tape early Friday.
Kansas City police were asking that anyone with information about the incidents in Waldo and Brookside to contact detectives at 816-234-5043 or call the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.
