The Student News Site of Shawnee Mission Northwest

SMNW

The Student News Site of Shawnee Mission Northwest

SMNW

The Student News Site of Shawnee Mission Northwest

SMNW

Gunshot At Oak Park Mall

An officer’s gun was grabbed and fired in an altercation between police and two shoplifters

On Nov 12 at 4:17 p.m., a shot rang out near the food court at Oak Park Mall. Two potential shoplifters were being confronted by the police, one of which reached for an officer’s gun and fired a shot inside the mall, according to senior A’Miya Ewing, who was heading on break near the time of the incident.

The other suspect fled the scene, speeding toward 95th street before being caught and arrested by police.

“I was trying to hold in my tears,” junior Stephanie Benitez said. “But I was scared. I didn’t know what was going on, I was in shock. I could barely type on my friend’s phone to text my parents.”

Ten police cars were parked in front of the food court surrounded by news cameras.

Before being lead by officers through the exit, Benitez, coworkers and customers were locked in the backroom for 30-40 minutes.

Both suspects are in custody. Authorities confirmed that nobody was harmed. Oak Park mall reopened Nov, 13 at 11:00 a.m. to carry on normal business hours.

KCTV5 states that this is the third at a Kansas City mall area in less than three days.

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Sofia Ball
Sofia Ball, Writer
Hi! My name is Sofia Ball and I am a writer for the Northwest Passage. Writing started out as a hobby for me. Something I never imagined I would be good at until about 7th grade after taking a creative writing class with Dr. Van Zant. I just started out as a freshman, and already, I've come to know and love many of the classes, teachers and students here at Northwest. I’d like to think of myself as an extrovert, but most of my freetime is spent either reading, writing or watching Netflix in my bedroom. I used to watch The Office all the time before it got removed. The only time you'll ever see me out and about is probably at Cross Country or Track practice. You may even see me handing out our latest newspaper issues around the school.

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