Kansas high school shooting survivor finds new path

By Donna Pitman

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    OLATHE, Kansas (KMBC) — The morning of March 4, 2022, started like any other at Olathe East High School: kids arriving by bus, lockers opening and closing, and students racing to beat the bell.

That normalcy changed with a rumor about a student, a backpack, and a gun.

Lives were changed forever after administrators began asking questions.

“It was very loud. It was very loud,” Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Kaleb Stoppel said, noting that details get foggy after that.

He remembers questioning then-senior Jaylon Elmore in his office, with Elmore telling him he just wanted to go home.

“He and I had a special relationship. He liked to call me ‘Bro’ all the time.”

Stoppel had been working with Elmore, helping him with his classes and was excited to see him succeed and graduate.

But after the loud pops, he found himself helping the 18-year-old stay alive.

Stoppel followed instructions from School Resource Officer Erik Clark, who had been shot.

“He did such a good job taking care of himself but also talking me through … ‘Hey, get him on his side … he’s vomiting, we don’t want him to choke,'” Stoppel said. “So, I get him on his side and start caring for the kid.” During all this, Stoppel realized he had also been hit. “I looked down, saw a hole in my pants, and felt a sting.”

Clark was able to radio dispatch for help. Assistance arrived, and each was taken to the hospital.

All survived. For Stoppel, that survival is layered. He has navigated depression and anxiety, both new to him.

He says counseling and medication help, as does knowing “it’s OK not to be OK.”

Stoppel also left education and now finds fulfillment as a financial advisor.

The husband and father of two says it allows him to pursue his passion for helping others while giving him more flexibility and time with his family.

So much has changed in the two and a half years since the shooting.

One thing has not: The educator who wanted so badly to see the student succeed still does.

“I’m grateful for where I am now and want the best for him,” he said. “We’re all going through our journeys now of trauma in different ways. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Elmore is charged with attempted capital murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, as well as two misdemeanor counts involving criminal use of weapons.

Elmore’s trial will begin on Jan. 27, 2025, in Johnson County.

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