Man Held After Son Slain, Woman Wounded at School

LIBERTY, Mo. — A man waiting in a parking lot outside his son’s school shot the fourth-grader to death and wounded the boy’s mother Thursday after a domestic dispute, police said.

The shootings occurred about 12:30 p.m. as the woman was picking up the boy at St. James Catholic School, which serves 322 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Police Lt. Mark Misenhelter said the gunman was the child’s father. He added that the suspect had argued with the boy’s mother earlier in the day, although their relationship was not immediately clear.

The suspect was arrested about an hour later at a liquor store in nearby Kansas City. Police spokesman Tony Sanders said officers received a tip that the man had said he was trying to get out of town because he had just shot someone.

The identities and ages of the victims were not immediately provided. Police said the boy died at the scene.

Students were taken to a movie theater to await the arrival of their parents. Among the pupils was the boy’s sister, who police say saw the shooting.

Rebecca Summers, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said that all students were accounted for and that the school was locked down.

The students never play in the parking lot, she said, “so I can’t imagine they saw this.”