Authorities are responding to a shooting that occurred in the afternoon of November 12 at the Oak Park Mall, which is situated at 11149 West 95th Street in Overland Park, Kansas. The shooting involved a police officer, according to early reports. Information regarding possible casualties and whether anyone was taken into custody during the incident were not immediately disclosed by the authorities.
“One of the suspects reached for the officer’s gun and fired a shot,” the Overland Park Police Department wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Thankfully, it did not hit anyone and no one was hurt. We took one suspect in custody in the mall and the other suspect shortly after that.”
There will probably be a significant police response to the shooting at the mall. While authorities investigate the location through November 12, there may be localized transportation and commercial interruptions.
Lacy said they don’t yet know where that bullet ended up, nor what store the theft was reported from. Officers locked down the mall following the shooting.
The shopping center is not expected to reopen until Monday. An investigation is ongoing. “Right now, we’re just happy that no one was injured,” Lacy said.
Ayanna Beale, 13, was standing near her mom’s kiosk, Taylor Made Luxury Melts, near the food hall and in front of Forever 21, when she noticed something was off. “I heard people arguing, so I looked thinking I was going to see a fight, but I heard a gunshot,” she said.
“Everybody ducked down and some people ran.” She saw someone getting tackled, and then she joined the large crowd running away from the food court, tears soon pouring down her face as she tried to grasp what was happening. Police quickly locked down stores and told everyone else to exit the mall near Dillards. They eventually arrested one suspect near the food court entrance and the other suspect near 95th Street.
Ayanna’s mother, Alishia Taylor, 40 was walking back from the restroom when the chaos broke out. Her youngest son, who is 10, lost his shoe as he ran to GameStop to take cover. Her older daughter was working at Panda Express at the time, and her older son was working at Lids. “It was pretty scary because I can only call one kid at a time,” said Taylor, who had to find all four of her children at different places in the mall after the shooting.
Taylor said the fleeing crowd left chairs overturned an abandoned shopping bags, coats and strollers. Sunday’s shooting was the second reported at a mall in the Kansas City metro this weekend. On Friday afternoon, Independence police said four people were wounded and three people were taken into custody in a shooting inside the Independence Center Mall.
“I was like ‘oh wow, that would never happen here.’ But it happened,” Ayanna said as she stood outside the police tape on Sunday evening, waiting to go back inside with her mother to collect their things. Lacy said he brought his daughter shopping at the mall just two weeks ago and encourages families to continue stopping by.
The police department regularly has both officers in uniform and in plainclothes at the shopping center, in addition to mall security. “I still feel that the Oak Park Mall is safe,” Lacy said.