OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – One man is dead and another is in critical condition after a shooting outside Overland Park's Sunrise Point Elementary School Tuesday morning.
A suspect is in custody.
Overland Park police said they were called to the school at about 9 a.m. Fire and medical first responders found two men on the playground outside who had been shot.
Both were taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where Todd E. Davis, 48, later died. Efren J. Gomez, 54, remained in critical condition Wednesday morning.
Police said the men were contractors working on the playground installing synthetic turf at the time of the shooting.
The suspect, a 32-year-old man, is a co-worker.
Witnesses told police that one of the workers began arguing with the two victims, which ended with the suspect shooting the men.
Police said no children were at the school at the time of the shooting. Neighbors in the immediate area had been notified of what happened through social media.
By the end of the day, authorities said there were four different crime scenes associated with the incident:
- The shooting itself at the elementary school playground.
- A carjacking at 151st and Metcalf, near a car wash. Shots were fired but no one was hurt.
- 148th and Metcalf, where the suspect was successful in carjacking at gunpoint a black GMC Denali Yukon.
- 159th and Rosewood, where the suspect dropped off the carjacking victim's vehicle and was later apprehended.
Police said the suspect actually dropped off the Yukon Denali at the carjacking victim's house.
"It's bizarre, to say the least," Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez said.
These pictures were taken from a neighbors house. You see the SWAT team surrounding the suspect in her backyard. @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/NA86tPLWYj
— Nick Starling (@NickStarlingTV) July 3, 2018
A representative from the Blue Valley School District said there was no summer school in session at Sunrise Point Elementary, but there was custodial staff inside.
Other schools were placed on "secured entry," meaning kids were not allowed to go outside, but operations continued as normal inside.
Jennifer Smith lives just down the street from the school. Her kids, ages 12 and 14, were home alone while the suspect was on the loose.
"I called home, and I said you need to stay inside, bolt the doors and just let Maybelle, who's our dog, let her do her job," Smith said.
Once the suspect was taken into custody, Smith returned home and delivered bottles of water to the officers who kept her kids safe.
"You know I just want to take care of them the way they take care of us," she said.
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Editor's Note: Overland Park police later confirmed there was a carjacking at 151st and Metcalf, prior to the one at 148th and Metcalf. The story has been updated.
