A Missouri man was charged with with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action after he fatally shooting his friend inside a McDonald’s bathroom
Officers responded to the McDonald’s around 7:30 p.m. on Highway 7 in Blue Springs, Missouri after a report of shots fired at around.
When authorities arrived they found the victim Harry Bowers shot inside a bathroom, he was taken to a hospital where he later died.
20 Year-Old Joseph Mayes was arrested in connection with the shooting, a manager told officers that the two were good friends.
Court documents say the manager told police she had been hanging out with Bowers, Mayes and another man at the restaurant and left to get ketchup from another McDonald’s nearby.
She was outside when Mayes then came running out of the McDonald’s saying he had accidentally shot Bowers. He then fled the scene, according to the court documents.
In his interview, Mayes told police that he was at the urinal when Bowers, standing behind Mayes, placed his gun to Mayes’ stomach and “pulled the trigger to hear it click.” Then, Mayes pulled out his gun, pointed it at Bowers and allegedly pulled the trigger, according to court documents. He said he didn’t know a round was in the gun.
Mayes told police he then fled the restaurant, met up with friends and tried to change the way he looked. He went to the home of a relative, who convinced him to turn himself in, the station reported.
The court documents said Mayes asked about Bowers in his police interview. After learning that Bowers had died, Mayes “became very emotional and started crying.”
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, the Blue Springs Police Department and McDonald’s have been contacted for additional comment.
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