A 16-year-old male is in custody after fleeing from a weekend shooting in Holts Summit.
Callaway County Sheriff's deputies and investigators responded to a call of disturbance with shots fired in the 12000 block of Hickory Drive at 7:44 p.m. Saturday, according to a sheriff's news release. Additional calls indicated someone had been shot.
When authorities arrived, they discovered an unidentified 19-year-old male from Jefferson City was suffering from a gunshot wound.
The alleged gunman, also a Jefferson City resident who wasn't named because he's a juvenile, already had fled the scene.
Callaway County EMS transported the victim to a Jefferson City hospital, where he was determined to be in stable condition.
Callaway County Sheriff's Lt. Clay Chism said the teenage suspect traveled to Holts Summit searching for someone other than the victim, who was at a Hickory Drive residence with several others when the 16-year-old arrived in the neighborhood. The victim, he said, had no involvement with any disturbance prior to the shooting.
He added that the shooting was "purposeful and an act of foul play."
"The 19-year-old was merely an innocent bystander," Chism said.
Callaway deputies, the Cole County Sheriff's Office, Jefferson City Police Department and Missouri Highway Patrol conducted witness interviews on scene and in Cole County.
Chism said Jefferson City police "made contact" with the suspect Sunday afternoon and "maintained his presence" until Callaway County sheriff's deputies could arrive to make a formal arrest.
He was transferred into the custody of state juvenile authorities and being charged under the state's juvenile code with armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree assault.