18-year-old charged, held on $1 million bond after shooting inside the Oak Park Mall
By KMBC Staff
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OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (KMBC) — An 18-year-old now faces a laundry list of charges in connection with a Sunday afternoon shooting inside the Oak Park Mall.
The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office said 18-year-old Nery Alberto Gonzalez-Munoz has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, interference with law enforcement, aggravated endangerment of a child, battery on a law enforcement officer, endangerment, carrying a concealed weapon, theft, and unlawful discharge of a firearm.
Officers were called to the Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas, just before 5 p.m. Sunday in regard to a shooting inside the shopping center.
Police said three plainclothes officers were following two male shoplifting suspects when a struggle ensued. A suspect managed to get ahold of an officer’s gun, and a single shot was fired inside the mall near the food court. No one was hit.
A second shoplifting suspect ran out of the mall and was taken into custody by a plainclothes police officer, police said.
Officials with Oak Park Mall released the following statement regarding the incident on Monday:
“We take these situations very seriously. In addition to our full-time third party security provider, we maintain a close working relationship with Overland Park Police Department. Our security program is 24/7 and covers the interior and exterior of the property. We evaluate our protocols on an ongoing basis, making adjustments as necessary. “The mall was placed on lockdown as a precaution and mall management was in continual communication with stores via our tenant notification system, to advise of the status of the situation as it evolved. Once cleared of the lockdown, the mall did not reopen since it was close to the normal closing time of 6 p.m.” The Overland Park Police Department is asking anyone who was present near the food court and recorded video of the incident to share it with police. Anyone with videos or additional information is asked to call the department at 913-344-8750.
This is the second shooting at a mall in the Kansas City area within the span of just a few days. The reported shooting at Oak Park Mall comes just a few days after four people were shot at the Independence Center.
Overland Park public information officer John Lacy said he believed two shootings happening in such quick succession was completely coincidental.
Gonzalez-Munoz is being held on $1,000,000 bond. He is due in court Tuesday afternoon.
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