KANSAS CITY, MO. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Missouri, Western), published as received.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man has pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing the firearm he accidentally fired in a fatal shooting at the Kansas City Zoo.

Anthony R. Meneses, 28, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays on Monday, Aug. 9, to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Kansas City police officers were called to the scene of an accidental shooting in a parking lot at 6800 Zoo Drive, Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2020. The victim, identified in court documents as “J.S.,” had been shot while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2005 Toyota Camry, which was occupied by three other persons.

Meneses was sitting behind the driver’s seat; there was another passenger in the back seat and in the front passenger seat. Meneses grabbed the gun, a Glock 9mm pistol, from the back pocket of the driver’s seat when the gun accidentally fired. The bullet traveled though the driver’s seat, striking J.S. in the chest.

J. S. was transported to Research Medical Center where he was later pronounced deceased.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Meneses has a prior felony conviction for tampering with a motor vehicle.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley K. Kavanaugh. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Operation LeGend

Operation LeGend is a federal partnership with local law enforcement to address the increase in homicides and violent crime in Kansas City, Mo., in 2020. The operation honors the memory of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, one of the youngest fatalities during a record-breaking year of homicides and shootings. Additional federal agents were assigned to the operation from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.