Suspect, 27, Charged in 9 KC Shootings

Mohammed Whitaker held on $1M bail
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 18, 2014 2:05 PM CDT
Suspect, 27, Charged in 9 KC Shootings
A police photo of Mohammed Whitaker.   (AP Photo/Kansas City Police Department)

Police in Kansas City are divulging more details about the newly arrested suspect in the city's spate of freeway shootings. He is identified as 27-year-old Mohammed Whitaker, and authorities have charged him with 18 felony counts in nine shootings, reports Fox4kc.com. (See the station's Twitter photo of Whitaker here.) Police haven't speculated about a motive, but they think Whitaker acted alone. Three people were wounded in the shootings, and witness accounts helped link Whitaker's car—a green Dodge Neon—to the spree.

“I thought everything was OK with him,” Whitaker's father tells the Kansas City Star. “I just thought he was working and trying to pay off his college bills.” Whitaker is being held on $1 million bail and is on leave from his sales position at medical supply company. His father tells the newspaper that Whitaker had dropped out of technical college. The last time they spoke was April 7, the day after the last confirmed shooting, when Edward Whitaker lent his son $50. More charges could follow, considering that as many as 20 shootings were reported in March and April, according to CNN. (More Kansas City stories.)

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