OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The 18-year-old suspect in a shooting at a Kansas high school that left two adults and the student wounded used a “ghost gun” that is untraceable, a prosecutor said.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said the gun used by Jaylon Desean Elmore during the shooting Friday at Olathe East High School was obtained either through a kit found on the internet or constructed with various parts. Such guns do not have serial numbers and are untraceable, The Kansas City Star reported.
Elmore, who is charged with attempted capital murder, remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday.
Police allege he exchanged gunfire in the school’s office area, wounding an administrator and school resource officer before he was shot. The two adults were released from the hospital on Friday.
School resource officer Erik Clark also fired his gun during the confrontation, and crime lab technicians are working to determine which shots from the two weapons wounded the men, Howe said.
Howe said law enforcement authorities across the country are seeing more incidents involving ghost guns, which offer a way to avoid current firearms laws and provide weapons to those who would not be able to purchase them.
The Olathe East shooting came six days after a ghost gun was used in a double murder-suicide in nearby Lenexa, according to court records.
Howe, a Republican, said it’s time for political leaders from both parties to consider putting restrictions on the purchase of ghost guns.
“I don’t think this is a Republican-Democrat issue, it’s not a pro-Second Amendment, anti-Second Amendment issue,” Howe said. “It’s something we can all agree on for public safety reasons, so I’m hopeful we can get the attention of Congress, then maybe we can get something passed to stop this and shut these companies down that are basically selling things that are causing death and destruction.”
