Pleasant Hill grocery store shooting suspect booked into jail after hospital discharge

Allen T. Prince left the hospital and went straight into the criminal-justice pipeline, booking into the Cass County Jail on June 2 without bond after the Pleasant Hill grocery store shooting that left Amy Coon dead and a 16-year-old employee wounded. His discharge marked the point where the case moved from emergency treatment to arraignment, charges, and the long grind of court.

Police say the violence broke out just before 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 25, at the Price Chopper at 2101 N. State Route 7 Highway in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. Investigators say Prince, 27, opened fire inside the store, killing Coon, 45, of Strasburg, Missouri, and shooting the teen worker, identified by KSHB as Ayden. Police said Prince then turned the gun on himself, which is why both he and the teen were initially rushed to hospitals. Ayden was later released on June 1.

The charges now hanging over Prince are serious and specific: first-degree murder, two counts of assault, and three counts of armed criminal action. FOX4 reported that he pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on June 4. The next court milestones will likely center on pretrial hearings, evidence review, and the state’s effort to show how the attack unfolded in a public grocery store packed with shoppers and workers.

Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright said the shooting was the first homicide in the city since the mid-2000s, a grim marker for a community still trying to absorb the loss. Investigators have said they have not identified a motive or a connection between Prince and either victim. That uncertainty has only deepened the unease around a case that unfolded in broad daylight and left a child employee, a dead shopper, and a shaken town behind.

Two armed bystanders stepped in during the attack and, police said, likely kept the toll from getting worse. Wright praised their intervention and said they would not face charges. At the same time, family members, friends, and neighbors gathered for a vigil for Coon, who was remembered as a mother and grandmother and, according to her obituary, had survived cancer about two years before the shooting. The teen’s family also saw immediate support, with an online fundraiser nearing $25,000 by May 26 as counseling and donation drives spread through the community.

Prince’s path to the jail cell was delayed by his own injuries, but the next phase is now underway. The suspect is booked, the charges are filed, and the case that started in a grocery aisle is headed into court.