KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former employee at the SubTropolis underground business complex in northeast Kansas City, Missouri, was taken into custody Tuesday after allegedly threatening to "shoot the place up," leading to a standoff with police before he was found in Kansas.
Police spokesman Capt. Tim Hernandez said the employee, who has not been identified, was stopped and detained around 11:45 a.m. at 95th Street and Mission Road in Leawood, Kansas. Charges against the man are pending, Hernandez said.
It was not immediately clear if he was armed when he was taken into custody.
Shortly before 9 a.m., police were called to the underground complex at 8600 Northeast Underground Drive on reports of a disgruntled employee possibly armed with a gun.
Police said the employee, who had recently been fired, threatened to “shoot the place up.” Security saw the man enter the complex and alerted authorities.
Police searched the underground complex with assistance from other federal, state and local agencies. Numerous businesses inside the complex were put on lockdown during the search.
Hernandez said the search of the 6 million-square-foot facility was one of the larger ones that authorities have conducted.
"This is one of the bigger ones, but that's why we train constantly," Hernandez said. "We do day-in and day-out training on clearing structures. Of course, they don't normally train on such large structures, but they often train on multiple agencies so they can pull off a task like this."
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said the man was detained in Kansas City, Kansas. Police later said he was detained at 95th Street and Mission Road.
