KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The 22-year-old man suspected of shooting five middle-aged white men since last year _ including four on south Kansas City walking trails _ threatened in 2014 to shoot up a school and "kill all white people," according to court records.
Fredrick Demond Scott, who was charged Tuesday in two killings and named as a suspect in three more, made those statements in January 2014 at Center Alternative School, as documented in a municipal citation for harassment.
Scott, who is black, has been charged with murder in the deaths of Steven Gibbons, 57, and John Palmer, 54. On Tuesday, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced those charges, also naming Scott as a suspect in the killings of David Lenox, 67; Timothy S. Rice, 57, of Excelsior Springs; and Mike Darby, 61, co-owner of Coach's Bar & Grill.
All five were white men between ages 54 and 67. All five appeared to have been fatally shot, most from behind, in surprise attacks as they walked dogs, visited park areas and, in one case, walked down a city street.
Baker has said she saw no clear motive for the killings. Sources close to the case said the shootings, which occurred over the course of about a year, did not appear to be racially motivated.
His mother said in an interview with the Kansas City Star that he refused to get treatment for his paranoid schizophrenia but did not show any hatred toward white people. Scott was cited in Kansas City municipal court in 2013 for assault on his mother, accused of shoving her several times. She called police, hoping tough love would help him, she said.
After his arrest earlier this month, Scott repeatedly told detectives that he was angry about the 2015 shooting death of his brother. A co-worker of Scott's at a south Kansas City Burger King said Scott appeared to be damaged by his brother's death.
If Scott is responsible for all five deaths, as Baker suggested, he would meet the FBI's standard of a serial killer.
If he cruised for victims on the popular walking trails in his area, it would be no great surprise that he killed middle-aged white men _ many of the people on the trails alone meet that description.
Law enforcement officials close to the investigation described Scott as a loner, saying detectives had struggled to find many people who knew the 22-year-old well.
He had been in trouble with the law before, but not for anything close to murder.
The 2014 threats at Center Alternative were the most alarming example. A city citation for harassment quoted Scott as stating: "I want to shoot the school up, Colombine-style (sic)."
He also said he wanted to kill himself and "kill all white people," according to the report.
Given probation for the offense, Scott was ordered to stay away from the school.
His mother said she did not recall the incident and that he even went on to graduate from the school.
Last year, he was found guilty of stealing a three-pack of underwear from a Dollar General.
Earlier this year, he had been ordered to pay $100 restitution for ripping the screens off of two front windows at the home he lived at in south Kansas City.
In some ways, the reason behind the killings remains a mystery as much to Baker as to Scott's former co-worker at Burger King, one of the few people who have publicly said they know Scott.
The morning after Scott's charges were announced, a former co-worker at the Burger King at Red Bridge Road and Holmes Road had not heard of his connection to the trail murders.
"Wow," she said, visibly shaken at the news. "I just seen this kid here the other day ... wow. Jesus Christ."
Scott had worked at the Burger King on at least two occasions over a year ago, but had regularly visited the restaurant during the past year, the co-worker said.
The co-worker said she knew Scott was distraught over his brother's murder when he went to the Burger King in search of a job the summer of 2016.
"He felt like his brother was the only person who loved him," the co-worker said. "It really damaged him."
