On a Tuesday evening in Lawrence, Kansas, a conflict that began on the road tragically ended the life of 22-year-old Zachary Michael Sutton, a White/Caucasian male. The events of May 17, 2022, unfolded from a verbal dispute into a fatal exchange of gunfire in a grocery store parking lot. The initial confrontation started at the intersection of 23rd and Harper streets, stemming from a remark about the loud exhaust of the white Ford F-150 in which Sutton was a passenger.
The other vehicle involved was a blue Nissan XTerra, driven by 53-year-old Monty Ray Amick.
The road rage incident escalated as the two vehicles continued westbound, with further aggressive driving and verbal exchanges occurring at 23rd and Iowa streets. The conflict reached its devastating conclusion in the parking lot of a Hy-Vee store located at Clinton Parkway and Kasold Drive. There, both Sutton and Amick exited their vehicles and fired handguns at each other. Police were dispatched to the scene at approximately 9:41 p.m.
Upon their arrival, law enforcement officers found Zachary Michael Sutton deceased in the parking lot. Monty Ray Amick was critically injured and transported to a local hospital, where he later died from his wounds. Investigators recovered two handguns at the scene and utilized surveillance footage from the Hy-Vee and a nearby business to piece together the tragic sequence of events. The investigation revealed that there was no prior relationship between the two men.
The driver and another passenger in the Ford F-150 were interviewed by police, along with a store employee and a bystander who had attempted to provide aid. After a thorough investigation into the mutual confrontation that tragically escalated, the Lawrence Police Department announced that no criminal charges were anticipated for anyone involved in the incident. The case was closed with the deaths of the two men who shot each other.
