Lenexa Police say a 16-year-old girl was shot in the face while riding in a car overnight.
In a news release Saturday, Master Police Officer Danny Chavez, a Lenexa PD spokesperson, said officers were called to the area of 91st Street and Pflumm Road at about 10 p.m. Friday for a reported shooting.
“The victim, later learned to be a 16-year-old female, told dispatchers that she was in a vehicle that was continuing to drive away from the area of the shooting,” Chavez said.
Responding officers found the involved car in the eastbound lanes of 95th Street over Interstate 35.
“The victim was found to have been shot in the face, and officers began first-aid treatment until paramedics arrived,” Chavez said. “The victim was then taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”
Police said the victim was the front seat passenger in the car with another 16-year-old girl driving.
The suspect, a 15-year-old boy, was a backseat passenger and armed with a handgun.
“As the three were driving, the handgun was fired, striking the victim in the face,” Chavez said. “The male who fired the gun exited the vehicle and fled the scene prior to officers’ arrival.”
The eastbound lanes of 95th Street over I-35 were closed as police investigated the scene and searched for the suspect.
With the assistance of officers from Overland Park and Olathe, a Lenexa Police K-9 unit searched the area for the suspect.
The suspect was not located during that search.
The car the teens were riding in was towed from the scene and taken to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Criminalistics Laboratory in Olathe for processing.
All lanes of 95th Street reopened shortly before midnight Saturday.
Just after 1 a.m. Saturday, officers learned that the suspect was with his mother, and she was driving him to the police station.
Officers arrested the boy at the Lenexa Police Headquarters just before 1:30 a.m.
Chavez says the suspect was transported to the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center to await formal charges.
Mike Frizzell is a freelance crime and fire reporter who runs Operation 100 News.
