Editor’s note: This story has been updated for clarification. Jaylon Desean Elmore was charged with shooting the school’s resource officer, Eric Clark, not the assistant principal, Kaleb Stoppel.
The former Olathe East student who investigators say opened fire in the school’s main office in March 2022, resulting in gunfire exchange that wounded himself, the school’s resource officer and an assistant principal, has now pleaded guilty to two felonies in connection to the incident.
Jaylon Desean Elmore, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, was himself critically injured in an exchange of gunfire with the resource officer and spent months hospitalized before being formally charged in 2022.
In a hearing Friday, Elmore pleaded guilty to one count of attempted premeditated murder, as well as another count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Two additional misdemeanor charges were dropped as part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors.
In a news release, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said the case was prosecuted by Howe and Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher McMullin.
An online court docket shows Elmore was set to face a jury trial beginning Monday, Jan. 27. Elmore is now set to be sentenced on March 20, at 1:30 p.m., in Johnson County District Court.
Elmore’s court appointed defense attorney Carl Cornwell did not immediately return a request for comment.
Shooting occurred in school’s office
The shooting took place on the morning of Friday, March 4, 2022, inside the main office at Olathe East High School, 14545 W. 127th St.
A criminal affidavit said a student alerted school administrators that another student — later identified as Elmore — had brought a gun to school that day.
Two assistant principals found Elmore in class and brought him back to the main office.
When they began asking if Elmore had a weapon, the affidavit says, Elmore stopped cooperating and told them they could not search the string backpack he was carrying.
At that point, the administrators texted resource officer Eric Clark, who arrived at the office shortly after.
The affidavit says Elmore moved his backpack in front of himself, reached into it and pulled out a green camo-patterned handgun that was later identified as a “ghost gun” containing thirteen 9-millimeter rounds, with a spent round blocking the slide from closing.
Ghost guns are firearms that can be sold as a kit and assembled at home. Often ghost guns do not have serial numbers or meet other requirements of gun manufacturers.
Investigators say Elmore began firing, getting off about five rounds toward Clark. The officer returned fire.
At one point, the report says, assistant principal Kaleb Stoppel jumped on top of Elmore in an attempt to get the gun.
All three — Elmore, Clark and Stoppel — were hit in the volley and transported to hospitals by ambulance.
Clark and Stoppel were both released from the hospital in the days after the shooting. Elmore remained hospitalized in Overland Park for roughly two months, undergoing multiple surgeries, before being released into custody.
