photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Caiden Clem appears Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Douglas County District Court with attorney Carl Cornwell.

Updated at 5:25 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15

A teen who got into a barroom altercation and fired his gun multiple times on the night of the fatal shooting at The Hawk pleaded guilty to multiple felonies on Thursday in Douglas County District Court.

Caiden Clem, 19, of Atchison, was originally charged with felony murder in the Jan. 17 incident at the popular college bar on Ohio Street, but the criminal complaint was amended within weeks of the incident to four felony counts of aggravated assault and one felony count of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon. On Thursday he pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault in The Hawk case and one count of attempted trafficking of contraband in a correctional facility in a separate case from April.

One count of aggravated assault and one count of criminal possession of a firearm by a felon were dismissed as part of the plea negotiated by prosecutor Eve Kemple and defense attorney Carl Cornwell.

Cornwell told the court that the whole incident from The Hawk was on video and that there was “no question” that Clem was guilty of what he pleaded to Thursday.

He added, though: “Had he not been intoxicated, I don’t think he would have done it.”

The statement may have alluded to the ease with which minors can get into drinking establishments with the type of wristbands that a KU student was convicted of selling that night to underage people.

Clem is facing about six years in prison for both cases, per the plea agreement, but Judge Amy Hanley could give him more under the sentencing guidelines. Additionally, the Douglas County sentence will run consecutively to two sentences Clem was already facing in Atchison County.

The deal also states that Clem will not ask for leniency at his sentencing in January.

Clem’s friend, Daitron Daniels Strickland, is facing charges of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, criminal possession of a firearm by a felon and misdemeanor battery. He is accused of fatally shooting Aiden Sullivan Knowles, 18, and critically wounding Brady Clark, then 16.

Last month, Hanley ordered Daniels Strickland, 19, to stand trial in The Hawk shooting, denying his claim that he should be immune from prosecution based on self-defense.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Daitron Daniels Strickland is pictured Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Douglas County District Court.

Testimony regarding video evidence indicated that Clem fired several shots into the air as he left The Hawk and walked across the street following a disturbance at the bar, during which he pulled a gun on a staff member and threatened to “blow the place up.” Daniels Strickland fired his gun after Clem’s shots rang out, hitting the two teens. Daniels Strickland’s attorney argued — unsuccessfully — that he was “entitled” to fire the shots in self-defense when he heard Clem’s “multiple gunshots in close proximity to him.”

While being held in the Douglas County Jail on a $1 million bond, Clem was charged in April with trafficking contraband in a correctional facility. Officials said they found “legal mail” with 53 small pieces of paper inside containing chemicals found in K2, a synthetic drug that mimics the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Then-Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal told the court last winter that Clem, although only 18 at the time, had a high criminal history score already, with one person felony on his record and three person misdemeanors. He said Clem was on post-release supervision at the time of The Hawk shooting, as he had just been released from Kansas Department of Corrections custody in November.

According to KDOC records, he was convicted in Atchison County of burglary in 2023, an incident that involved the theft of a firearm, and was also convicted of tampering with electronic monitoring equipment. Those records list the case status as “active,” meaning he is still on supervision.

KDOC records also indicate that while serving time at El Dorado Correctional Facility in June of 2025 Clem had a disciplinary report for “incitement to riot.”

At the conclusion of Thursday’s hearing, Cornwell announced that Clem had become a father and that he had gotten to see his infant son in the courtroom. He has never held the baby, however, and Cornwell asked that he be allowed to do so in jail.

Kemple, while sympathetic, said she was concerned that Clem could use such an encounter to get more contraband into the jail, to which Cornwell countered that Clem would be strip-searched after such a visit.

Judge Hanley said she would discuss the advisability of such visits with the sheriff, who is in charge of jail operations.

“He’d like to at least hold that child before he goes to prison,” Cornwell pleaded.

Clem’s sentencing is set for Jan. 5 at 10 a.m.

This is a developing story and will be updated.