A suburban Kansas City man faces two felony charges after he berated a woman with racial slurs in a Wendy’s drive-thru and then shot her in the leg when she threw a cup at his car.
Jackson County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Hannibal L. Boston, 35, of Pleasant Hill, unlawful use of a weapon resulting in injury, a first-degree felony, and armed criminal action. Boston, who is white, was being held in county jail on $25,000 bail after she surrendered at the Raytown Police Station.
According to court documents, Raytown police officers were dispatched around 11:40 a.m. Monday to the Wendy’s fast food restaurant at 9708 E. 63rd St. for a report of a person shot. Dispatchers advised responding officers that the shooting victim was driving to the hospital.
Her car became disabled a few miles west on East 63 and Beacon Drive in Kansas City. The victim, whose identity was redacted in court documents, was transported by ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Police questioned the woman and another person inside the car at the time of the shooting. Witnesses said words were exchanged with a man who cut them off as they reached the drive-thru line, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Tuesday.
Witnesses said the victim at one point threw a foam cup filled with firecrackers at the man’s car. He allegedly shot her as she was returning to her car.
The shooting victim told police she was verbally arguing with the man while she was standing outside her car. She threw the cup at him “after being called several racial slurs,” the affidavit says.
Police found three spent 9mm shell casings during the drive Monday as well as a deployed projectile near a speaker box. While processing the shooting scene for evidence, Boston entered the Raytown Police Station and asked to speak with officers.
The 36-year-old allegedly told a detective “it was self-defense” and told officers where his car was found in the parking lot of Raytown City Hall. He told them there was a firearm inside, according to the affidavit.
After obtaining a search warrant, police found a 9 mm handgun and a magazine on the front passenger seat. Also found on the floorboard were a broken foam cup, clear plastic wrap, a straw, and a “brown material” on the exterior and interior of the vehicle, the affidavit says.
Boston declined to be interviewed by Raytown investigators Monday, the affidavit says. Online court records did not list a defense attorney who could speak on his behalf as of Tuesday.
