In the late afternoon of February 2, 2017, the life of Anthony L. Shuster, a 28-year-old Black / African American male, was tragically cut short in an Overland Park, Kansas apartment. The incident unfolded at The Lodge Apartments, located in the 7500 block of West 106th Street, where Shuster resided with his fiancée and their infant daughter. Police were dispatched to the scene around 4:15 p.m.
following reports of an armed disturbance.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered Shuster deceased inside the apartment. Another woman at the scene had sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Shuster's three-month-old baby was also present in the apartment at the time of the shooting but was unharmed. The loss was a devastating blow to his family, who remembered him as a loving father to his three children and a cornerstone of their family.
The day after the shooting, a suspect, 47-year-old Michael Collins Smith of Prairie Village, turned himself into the police. Smith was subsequently charged by Johnson County prosecutors with first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Shuster. In addition to the murder charge, Smith also faced charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated endangering a child. His bond was set at $1 million. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear to the family, who were left grappling with the sudden and senseless loss of a loved one.
