A Kansas City woman was taken into custody this week after she allegedly became frustrated with the DMV’s slow-moving line and opened fire outside.
Following Tuesday’s incident in Missouri, the Kansas City Police Department and Platte County Sheriff’s Department took Vanessa Richey into custody, The Kansas City Star reports.
Though there were luckily no injuries from the shooting, Richey, 34, was charged with making a terrorist threat with the purpose of frightening 10 or more people, and the unlawful use of a weapon for exhibiting a gun in an angry and threatening manner, according to KMBC News.
The terrifying ordeal happened at approximately 11:30 a.m. at the Parkville License Office in Kansas City on Tuesday, the Star reports.
Patricia Zick, a witness at the scene, told the outlet that the woman came into the DMV, became very belligerent and started cursing at employees after noticing that the office was packed with people and the wait time would be long.
“Something was wrong, I don’t know what it is — drugs, mental or whatever — but she just insisted on getting taken care of immediately,” Zick recalled to the Star. “‘The president’s security was in danger,’ she said.”
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A similar account came from Tom Hutsler and DMV Manager Terri Haris, who both also witnessed Richey become increasingly hostile over the large crowd.
“It was very crowded in there — a lot of people,” Hustler told Express-News. “She was cussing and upset with the staff there.”
Haris, who was behind the DMV counter at the time, recalled Richey walking up and demanding a duplicate ID, the outlet reports.
Despite claiming her issue was a matter of natural security and that the president’s life was in danger, Richey was turned down and told to wait, which Haris said she allegedly responded to with, “What do I have to do, grab a gun?”
“I checked with the woman behind me and said, ‘Did she say what I thought she said? That doesn’t sound good,'” Hutsler added to the outlet.
After about 10 minutes of the altercation, witnesses said Richey stormed outside and Zick and Hutsler reportedly followed to monitor the situation and get her license plate number.
It was at that moment that Richey allegedly dug into her purse, took out a gun and shot it into the air, the Star reports.
“That’s when we all ran,” Zick told the outlet, adding that she was able to escape by entering a dentist’s office in the area. “We all ran into the building, and they were scooting us out the back door. We didn’t know if she was coming back in or she had more ammunition or she had been on the phone calling a friend to come back up or what was going on.”
According to Express-News, an off-duty officer who was at the scene confronted Richey while Hutsler tackled her from behind.
Authorities eventually showed up and arrested the woman before taking her to a hospital for evaluation, the Star reports.
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As officers continued to gather information from witnesses, Major Erik Holland from the Platte County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet that Richey allegedly fired her gun several times into a mulch bed outside of the DMV, but did not make it into the office.
“We’re still early on in the investigation, but it is to my understanding that she didn’t make it into the DMV,” he said. “People saw the gun before she got in. The doors were locked and she fired the shots before she got into the DMV.”
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