Police are searching for a suspect in the Missouri Amtrak train shooting on Friday. Richie T. Aaron Jr., 30, was shot and killed on the train after leaving Lee’s Summit station.
According to authorities, the train stopped around 9:15 pm at the next station in Independence, where the victim was pronounced dead. The suspect was also a passenger on the train and fled the scene. Amtrak passengers were confused with the shooting.
Passenger Chris Shaw says, “There should have been an ambulance at Lee’s Summit, not 35 minutes later, stop the train.” Passengers informed officials of the shooting and asked to stop the train, but it didn’t stop.
Amtrak released a statement saying they are open to cooperating with the investigation. They confirmed that the train was traveling from St. Louis to Kansas City.
Amtrak says, “There were no injuries to the other 81 passengers and the Amtrak crew, and they were all provided alternate transportation to their final destination.”
Police confirmed the train car was not traveling a large number of passengers.
Police say, “The initial investigation revealed that the train car where the shooting occurred did not have a large number of passengers, and the passengers that heard the gunshots did not immediately recognize that a person had been shot.”
Though emergency crews did attempt to save Aaron’s life, he succumbed to injuries when the train stopped in Independence.
