Curtis Ray Cruse Jr., 35, was fatally shot on the afternoon of December 8, 2023, in St. Joseph, Missouri. According to reports, a disturbance between Cruse and 25-year-old Nathan L. Keegan began while both were driving on U.S. 36 and continued after both pulled into the parking lot of a Speedy’s gas station at 1310 Riverside Road. Witnesses at the scene identified Keegan as the shooter. Cruse was struck in the back, was found unresponsive around 4:20 p.m., and later died. Passengers in both vehicles were unharmed.

Keegan of Kansas City was arrested at the scene; an officer located a loaded handgun in the driver’s seat of the vehicle he had been near. He was charged with second-degree murder, made an initial court appearance, and was held at the Buchanan County Jail on a fifty-thousand-dollar bond, with a bond review and preliminary hearing set for December 18.

Cruse was remembered as a popular Lafayette High School athlete who stayed active in local sports, coached his daughters, worked with the family barbecue business, had recently begun a carpentry apprenticeship, and was a married father of five. A GoFundMe campaign was started to support his wife and children.

If anyone witnessed the incident at the Speedy’s on Riverside Road or has information about what happened that afternoon, please share what is known.