KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While police continue their investigation into the Craigslist car sale that ended in gunfire Wednesday outside an apartment complex just south of Swope Park, the family of the man shot is grateful he will survive.
The victims are a 53-year-old man and his 55-year-old wife. They were shot and robbed while trying to buy a car they saw on Craigslist. The couple from Liberty and their 16-year-old son met a guy at an apartment on East 84th Terrace in south Kansas City on Wednesday to see the 2007 Sonata to possibly buy it for their son.
Investigators say while showing the vehicle to the couple, the man went inside the apartment and made a phone call.
Within moments, police say two men came out to rob the couple. One of the robbers shot the husband four times. His wife was hit in her arm and their son wasn’t hurt.
RELATED: Four taken into custody in connection with Craigslist shooting, robbery
After getting the news, the victim’s parents drove from Hannibal, Mo., to see their son and his wife.
“We just thank God everyday. I mean, it’s a miracle that he’s alive,” said the victim’s mother, who spoke exclusively and anonymously to FOX 4’s Robert Townsend.
“We hopped in the car and got here and found him breathing and found that he recognized us and we thank God, and we just thank God everyday!” she said.
The man’s mother says her son still has two bullets inside him.
“The doctors can’t believe he’s alive,” she said. “Just a smidgen could’ve been his heart, you know. It got his liver. It got his lung. So we can’t thank God enough.”
The victim has three children, is a highly respected Boy Scouts leader, and the family attends Liberty United Methodist Church. For the last 14 years, he’s worked at Ferrellgas Propane Company.
“We told him the first time we saw him, ‘Don’t worry about, you know, don’t worry about work. You come back when you’re able to come back. Just get well. We miss you. We love you,'” said Scott Brockelmeyer, Ferrellgas spokesman.
Police say the husband shielded his wife and son during the shooting. Investigators say the three robbers stole the woman’s purse, which reportedly contained $3,000, and the couple’s car. Officers later found the stolen vehicle several blocks away near KCPD’s East Patrol Station.
Police are checking to see if the robbers are the same men, who about three hours before the double-shooting, met a man on East 88th Terrace. In that instance, when the victim handed one man an X-Box he listed for sale on Craigslist, two other guys armed with black handguns approached the seller from behind. For more on charges in that case, click here.
