A confrontation at the Hawk, a popular bar near KU’s campus, escalated from a dispute with bar staff members to gunfire that killed 18-year-old Aidan Sullivan Knowles and left 16-year-old Brady Clark critically injured, court records show.
A police affidavit, which Judge Amy Hanley ordered to be disclosed Friday, lays out a more detailed account of the events that occurred just before 2 a.m. Jan. 17 at the Jayhawk Cafe, 1340 Ohio St.
Lawrence police allege that Caiden Clem, 18, of Atchison, fired several rounds into the air outside the Hawk before Daitron Daniels Strickland, 18, of Shawnee, turned and fired directly toward a small group near the bar’s entrance, striking Knowles and Clark.
The two teens have been charged in connection with the shooting. Clem is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Daniels Strickland is charged with second-degree murder, plus two counts of attempted murder.
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Knowles’ father, in a post on Facebook shared by Lawrence police, wrote that they had learned Knowles was “simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Clark’s family has started a fundraiser to cover medical expenses for his injuries.
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Probable cause affidavits are documents written by law enforcement officers to support charges in a case. The allegations they contain have not been proven in court. Detective Evan Curtis of the Lawrence Police Department wrote the affidavit in these cases. Curtis’ affidavit was based on interviews with multiple witnesses, the suspects and a review of security camera footage.
According to the documents, witnesses told police that two groups — one including the two suspects and another including the two victims — had gotten along after meeting at the Hawk. Surveillance video shows Clem, Daniels Strickland and others entering the bar around 11 p.m. through an unmanned side door, according to the affidavit.
Around 1:45 a.m., bar staff instructed Clem, Daniels Strickland and others in their group to leave. A physical and verbal clash ensued near the entrance, and surveillance video shows Clem pulling a semi-automatic handgun during the scuffle, according to the affidavit.
The group was eventually forced outside, where the affidavit says Clem pointed his firearm at a bouncer’s head. Witnesses told police that shortly after an argument over a cellphone, Clem pulled out a handgun and fired approximately four rounds into the air.
Almost immediately after, Daniels Strickland pulled out a handgun and fired multiple rounds, striking Knowles and Clark, the affidavit alleges.
During interviews with police, witnesses described freezing in fear as shots passed close enough for them to hear what one described as the “sonic boom” of bullets, the affidavit says.
Police were dispatched shortly after 1:49 a.m. after multiple callers reported a man in orange pointing a gun and shots fired. Officers arriving at the scene found Knowles dead and Clark lying near the bar’s south entrance, according to the affidavit. Police started searching for a person in orange, eventually locating and detaining Clem, Daniels Strickland and two others.
Daniels Strickland reportedly told police he fired his gun because he was scared after hearing shots and claimed he aimed upward and not at anyone. Detectives noted that video footage contradicted that account, showing him firing directly toward people near the door. During the interview, police allege Daniels Strickland said it might be a “good thing he caught a body on his first adult charge,” according to the affidavit.
Motion for immunity
Clem and Daniels Strickland appeared in Douglas County court last week.
Razmi M. Tahirkheli and Angela Trimble, attorneys for Daniels Strickland, filed a motion asking the Douglas County District Court to grant him immunity from criminal prosecution under Kansas’ self-defense statute.
The motion argues that Daniels Strickland’s use of force during the shooting was legally justified because he reasonably believed he was in imminent danger after hearing multiple gunshots fired nearby.
The motion contends that prosecutors cannot establish probable cause that Daniels Strickland did not act in self-defense and emphasizes that Kansas law requires courts to resolve immunity claims early to prevent unjust prosecution. It argues that Daniels Strickland did not provoke the gunfire, was not committing a felony, and attempted to minimize harm by aiming away from people.
Olathe-based defense attorney Carl Cornwell, representing Clem, told Hanley last week that “We’re not going to do an immunity (motion), obviously.”
The cases are set for an all-day hearing Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Arrestees and defendants in criminal cases should be presumed not guilty unless they are convicted.
The Hawk has reopened since the shooting.
A spokesperson for the Hawk did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. In a statement last week, the spokesperson wrote that the bar was “fully cooperating with law enforcement in their ongoing investigation.”
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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August Rudisell/Lawrence TimesFatal shooting at Hawk stemmed from argument with bar staff, Lawrence police allege
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
