At approximately 9 p.m. yesterday, Dec. 1, officers were called to 54th and Lydia to meet Rockhurst University Security on an ambulance call.
Upon arrival, officers observed the victim, a young black male, to be unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has been identified as 17-year-old Nelson E. Hopkins Jr. of Kansas City, Mo. Detectives believe that Nelson had left the Plaza Library and took a bus to 54th and Troost just prior to the shooting. He was walking home on 54th Street when he was shot.
Anyone who may have observed Nelson or people following Nelson on the bus or after he got off the bus is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
