GRANDVIEW, Mo. — A Grandview employee recalls the horrifying moments before being shot at work.
A suspect ran in and shot the 24-year-old in the stomach and now he and his family are terrified because police haven’t made any arrests. The shooting happened Thursday morning at Pride Auto Sales in Grandview.
“He said ‘I’m alive,’” said Michael Mitchell’s sister, Tara Mitchell, about the first words he said to her after waking up in a hospital bed.
Then almost immediately he remembered every moment of his terrifying day at work at Pride Auto Sales.
“When he got there that morning he hadn’t even taken his coat off yet. They hadn’t even unlocked the doors,” Mitchell said.
But Michael says a man knocked on the door and he let him in.
“Michael thought it was a regular customer and let him in to get an early sale. Then it went bad,” she said.
Michael says he kept asking the man to take his coat off and have a seat, but the suspect was pacing back and forth. Another employee started feeling like it was suspicious and stood up. That’s when Michael says the man pulled out a gun and opened fire.
Michael hit the floor to take cover and he says the suspect kept shooting.
“Somebody inside did fire back which probably saved both of their lives,” Mitchell said.
The suspect fled and Michael was rushed to the hospital.
After surgery family says he is awake and talking. Michael told police the suspect had his hood up with a scarf covering most of his face. Michael says the man didn’t ask for money and family believes the suspect wanted to hurt someone inside.
“I think this was pure evil vengeance on a normal kind fun loving hard working kid,” said Mitchell.
Police say they have an idea who this suspect is and management told Michael’s family they think it might’ve been a disgruntled employee.
If you know anything about this case police urge you to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
Michael’s family has set a GoFundMe account to help him with medical costs. If you would like to help CLICK HERE.
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