KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former student Jaylon Elmore pleaded guilty Friday in Johnson County District Court to charges related to a March 2022 shooting incident at Olathe East High School that wounded a school resource officer and an assistant principal.
Elmore, 21, pleaded guilty to an amended count of attempted premeditated first-degree murder and firearm possession by a felon.
Prosecutors and the defense attorneys agreed to 240 months in prison.
Sentencing is set for March 20 at 1:30 p.m. in Johnson County Court in Olathe.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe revealed in court today school officials pulled Elmore from a shop class under the guise of talking to him about his academic standing.
They told Elmore to bring his backpack.
They started talking about his academic work in the school office, then switched to the topic of rumors he brought a gun.
Kaleb Stoppel, an assistant principal and the school's athletic director, repeatedly asked Elmore to let Stoppel search the backpack.
Emore repeatedly refused.
Stoppel texted School Resource Officer Erik Clark and asked him to come to the office.
Clark came into the office and went to search the backpack.
Elmore pulled the bag around the front of his body and pulled out a handgun and fired 4 rounds at Clark.
One bullet hit his body camera and he was hit by three other bullets.
Clark returned fire, shooting Elmore and Stoppel, who was attempting to tackle Elmore.
Students were evacuated from the school and parents were called to pick up their children.
The shooting prompted a review of security procedures in the Olathe School District and numerous changes, including employee-worn badges that can be used to alert everyone in a school of an emergency.
Clark recovered from his wounds and continues to work for the Olathe Police Department as a patrol officer.
Stoppel left Olathe East at the end of that school year after taking a job as the district athletic director for Wichita Public Schools. After one year, Stoppel returned to the Kansas City area as an assistant principal and activities/athletic director at Park Hill South High School.
But he has since left school administration and now works as a financial advisor for Edward Jones, according to his LinkedIn page.
—
If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
