Missouri Western criminal justice student, Bryant King faces a March 27 preliminary hearing for a 2nd degree murder charge following a March 14 gang-related shooting that happened in Kansas City, Mo.
He has also been charged with discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and two counts of armed criminal action, all felonies.
An arrest warrant was issued for King soon after the incident. Missouri Western and St. Joseph police officers searched the residence halls but did not find him. He turned himself that Friday evening.
King was a first semester freshman and a resident living on campus in the LLC residence hall.
King, a native of Kansas City, along with several other suspects, is accused of killing 19-year-old Michael Abron at 46th St. and Paseo Boulevard.
According to police reports, on Friday March 14, Abron was attending a family gathering at a local BBQ restaurant when the rival gang members entered the establishment. Abron and several of his relatives left the restaurant to avoid a confrontation with the other gang members.
The victim stopped at a red light when two cars pulled along side of his car and started firing, killing Abron. King, a suspected gang member, is one of the alleged shooters during the incident.
His status as a student is indeterminate. In an e-mail message sent out to the campus community, Western administration said that they could not comment about this situation because of FERPA laws. It goes on to say that if disciplinary action is required, a student can be removed from the residence halls and expelled from school. A “Find a Student” search on Western’s web site did not list him as a student.