Couple visiting parents in Grain Valley find themselves at center of shooting incident at Scenic and Sawgrass

Update 10/20/22, 3:00pm: In a press release, the City of Grain Valley provided additional details beyond their initial statement via Facebook the afternoon of 10/19/2019:  
     "Officers discovered a 24-year-old male with gunshot wounds - who was later pronounced deceased at the scene. Firearms were located at the scene and three subjects were detained for questioning. Grain Valley Police Department detectives, with assistance from detectives from the Oak Grove Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and Kansas City Police Department Crime Scene Unit processed the scene and interviews were conducted. It was determined that all persons involved knew each other and were staying in the residence where an argument preceded the shooting. This investigation is ongoing and once complete will be presented to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office."

​     As reported the afternoon of October 19th, Grain Valley Police Department reported at approximately 1:00pm on Wednesday, October 19th that police were dispatched to a shooting on Scenic and Sawgrass that left one person deceased.
     In a Facebook post at approximately 2:30pm on October 19th, Grain Valley Police reported officers were currently at the scene of the shooting. The statement said the investigation continues, but police are not searching for a subject and there is no threat to the public at this time.  
     While new details have yet to be released, Grain Valley News spoke with a couple who found themselves at the center of the tragedy yesterday.
     Courtney Smith and James Smith, residents in the Truman Lake area, were in Grain Valley on business and to visit Courtney’s parents, who live in a neighboring duplex where the shooting took place.
     The couple were outside visiting with Courtney’s mother and a friend, when they witnessed a white truck arrive on the scene and a verbal altercation begin. The Smiths said the truck then left, but they had a sense that there would be further trouble.
     “There were loud arguments going on and the truck left, but it was obvious it would return given the threatening things being said,” Courtney Smith said.
     They called to another neighbor whose children were in a vehicle to get the children inside.
     The Smiths report a vehicle returned to the scene minutes later, where the apparent victim entered the home where the verbal altercation had just taken place. The Smiths then heard shooting from within the house.
     Both of the Smiths heard hollering from the home and sprang into action. James Smith had a handgun and entered the home in an what he described as an attempt to help stop or disarm the individual shooting inside the home.
     James described that he then saw Courtney, a nurse, run past him toward the basement where the shooting victim, identified by the Smiths as a young man in his 20s who had returned in the vehicle and enter the home, was located. Courtney Smith began administering CPR until police and paramedics arrived and ordered her aside.
     According to Courtney Smith, the victim was not transported for care as he was deceased shortly after their arrival.
     James Smith reported seeing two young men, appearing to be in their 20s, run from the scene following the shooting, with Smith calling to them to return. The men reportedly returned to the scene, one of the men referred to as the shooter of the man who entered the home and was shot in the basement, according to Smith. According to the Smiths, the young man who reportedly shot the individual who entered the home was placed under arrest.
     James Smith was ordered to the ground by police and dropped his weapon while the scene was secured. The couple were later individually questioned and released by police. Courtney Smith had to relinquish the clothes she had been wearing to police as evidence, as they were bloodied following her attempts to administer CPR to the victim.
     According to the Smiths, those at the scene as well as family members they later encountered stated the altercation was related to an intimate relationship between the victim and a woman associated with the home. Police remained on the scene late afternoon on October 19th as the Smiths, stating they were still in shock, left to return home.
     “The neighborhood is pretty quiet. It’s scary to think that would happen near to my mom and dad. We were just outside, talking with a friend, and this happens. And today was very sad,” Courtney Smith said, her voice breaking. “The fact is that two young men lost their life today. One was shot and lost his life, and another arrested and his life is changed forever.” 

The shooting incident took place the afternoon of October 19th in the area of NW Sawgrass Drive and NW Scenic Drive.