KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man who was shot while playing in a disc golf tournament on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri, is still in the hospital.
Jake Riley, 31, is a disc golf enthusiast for the last 12 years, and is expected to be okay after he was critically injured in the shooting while at Kessler Park.
Police arrested 21-year-old Osman Igal, who is charged with first degree assault and armed criminal action.
Riley's fiancee, Cosette Spencer, said Riley is doing better Wednesday and was able to get off the ventilator and has started talking and moving.
She said watching him go through this experience has been gut wrenching.
"This has been the worst thing that I have probably ever gone through," Spencer said. "He means absolutely everything to me, and he wasn't doing anything wrong, he wasn't in a fight with anyone, he was just doing the thing that he loves the most, playing in a disc golf tournament."
The shooting fractured Riley's pelvis and left multiple holes in his bowels and colon.
After several successful surgeries, he is doing better but has a long road of recovery ahead of him.
The disc golf community and others around the Kansas City area are showing support by donating to a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $20,000.
"We really, really, couldn't be more thankful, this is definitely going to help us out and just take the burden off," Spencer said.
Tournament director Michael Krueger said he wants to see more investment by the city into Kessler Park and Blue Valley Park to make them safer, including getting more park rangers.
"It's wonderful land, they're in economically depressed areas, I get that, but we should as a city be able to provide a safe place for people to go and throw frisbees and they shouldn't have to fear for getting shot or getting robbed or something like that," Krueger said.
Krueger said he will not host any more tournaments at Kessler Park until he sees changes to make it safer.
Spencer said she and the rest of Riley's family are breathing a little easier knowing he'll be okay.
"It's just so unfortunate that there are such sad people out there in this world, but I'm just so happy that he is going to be better, he is alive, and he is breathing, and he's talking so I couldn't ask for more," Spencer said.
She said she is unhappy with the charges against Igal and would like to see them upgraded to attempted murder.
"Jake nearly lost his life, he shot four times, he was trying to kill, so I'm pretty upset with the way that Jackson County is handling the situation," Spencer said.
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