By LEAH WANKUM
Managing Editor
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — A St. Louis man shot in a drive-by shooting in downtown Warrensburg Saturday morning recently returned home after receiving medical treatment.
Torye Hayes Jr., 21, suffered a single gunshot wound that entered his back and exited through his side at approximately 3 a.m. outside of the Phoundation Party and Dance Hall, located at 132 E. Culton St., according to Warrensburg Police.
Tim Lowry, acting chief of police, said shots were fired earlier in the evening, 15 to 18 minutes before Hayes was shot.
“There was an argument inside the Phoundation, but it did not involve our victim,” Lowry said. “So it appears that he was just an innocent bystander that may have gotten caught in some crossfire.”
Lowry said Warrensburg Police are looking for a gray sports car in connection with the shooting.
“We still don’t have a whole lot other than that when the shots came out, the first round, they actually had stopped the party and started pushing people out (and) told people to leave,” Lowry said. “We’ve followed up on some leads that morning. We had a lot of people that left the area, so we’re still asking for anyone that was at the party that would have seen anything to please contact us.”
Travis Tickemyer, owner of the Phoundation, said the shooting occurred considerably after the event was over and didn’t result from any known confrontation or incident occurring inside.
“We had an off-duty officer from an adjoining county on premises until shortly before the incident,” Tickemyer said. “We will be increasing our security systems to include even more cameras as well as placing restrictions on the type of event allowed at our venue.”
Tickemyer said the Phoundation staff will limit future events to private groups or organizations, such as weddings, birthday parties and events for fraternal organizations and other chartered groups.
“We are working with the city and Police to prevent this type of issue from recurring,” Tickemyer said.
Anyone with information related to the shooting can contact the Warrensburg Police Department at 660-747-9133.