Men charged in KC’s Crown Center mass shooting that wounded six people waive jury trial

The trial for two men accused in a mass shooting earlier this year at Crown Center in Kansas City is expected to begin Tuesday after the defendants waived their right to a jury trial, court documents show.

Joel Olivas, 24, and Brian Favela, 23, each face 13 felony charges stemming from the Jan. 17 shooting that wounded six people.

During a pre-trial conference hearing last week, Olivas and Favela waived their right to a trial by jury and consented to a bench trial, which will allow the presiding judge to decide their cases.

The trial, which is expected to last five days, is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday before Jackson County Judge S. Margene Burnett.

Olivas and Favela each face three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, six counts of armed criminal action, three counts of first-degree harassment and one count of first-degree terrorist threat.

Shooting believed to be gang-related

The shooting erupted about 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 17 when two groups began arguing with each other inside the mall in the 2400 block of Grand Boulevard, according to court documents.

One witness told police that they heard the two groups yelling “east side” and “west side,” along with other expletives, before the shooting. The victims, who range in age from late teens to at least 50 years old, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Crime scene technicians found 54 spent shell cases, according to a police affidavit. The shell casings were primarily found between The Coterie Theatre and Sheridan’s Ice Cream on the first floor. Multiple restaurants sustained major damage from the gunfire, police said.

Gang squad intelligence detectives reviewed surveillance video of the shooting. They allegedly determined those involved in the shooting were associated with two groups that engaged in an “ongoing pattern of violent activity in the metro area,” according to court documents.

Surveillance video showed Favela shooting what appeared to be a MAC-10 assault weapon and Oliva firing a handgun, according to court documents. Surveillance video showed the two men leaving the mall in a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Police said Olivas and Favela allegedly identified as part of an East Side gang and were firing at people who reportedly identified as part of a West Side gang.

Police arrested Olivas at Kansas City International Airport, where he planned to fly to Seattle. Favela was arrested at a home in Jackson County, where police found the silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.

According to court records, photo records allegedly show that Olivas and Favela discovered that members of the other group were going to be at Crown Center. Once at Crown Center, Olivas started recording on his phone, and the video allegedly shows Favela and Olivas making threats while following people through Crown Center.

“It appears to me in the video that the constant harassment from Favela and Olivas was done in an attempt to get (West Side gang) to start something with them to include drawing a weapon,” the detective wrote in the affidavit.