I get asked a lot why this is happening and what can be done to stop it. I wish we had all of those answers. In nine hours from about 8:45 last night to 5:45 this morning, police responded to seven separate shootings. No one has died at this point, but several have life-threatening injuries. I’ve detailed them below to give you a snapshot of what we’ve been dealing with. In most, police were either close enough to hear the shootings when they happened or were there in minutes. Police presence is not deterring those set on committing violent acts.
You might see a few other commonalities in the cases below:
Uncooperative victims – From May 11 to 17, eight out of ten shooting victims refused to cooperate with the investigation and/or refused to press charges. A review of data over a longer period of time shows that two-thirds of Kansas City’s living shooting victims are uncooperative in the investigation. A majority claim they don’t know who shot them or why. Investigation usually shows that’s not true. They either want to retaliate, were involved in illegal activity at the time of the shooting they don’t want to disclose, or fear retaliation. If shooting victims don’t help police stop shooters, the shooters remain in the community and remain readily capable of deadly violence. We know who they are. We know what they’ve done, but we have no way to stop them within the criminal justice system.
Juveniles – Many of the victims and suspects from last night’s shootings were teenagers.
LAST NIGHT’S SHOOTINGS
8:42 p.m., 31st and Van Brunt
Officers were in the area of 31st and Van Brunt and heard the sound of multiple gunshots. An area canvas was conducted, and officers found someone shot in the parking lot of 3011 Van Brunt. Witnesses said there were multiple people exchanging gunfire from the parking lot and a vehicle. An ambulance transported the victim at the scene to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Shortly after the incident, another shooting victim arrived at a different hospital with a gunshot wound. She was listed in stable condition. The suspects range in age from 14-17.
11:40 p.m., Linwood and Kensington
Officers responded to an area hospital after a shooting victim arrived in the emergency room. The victim told officers someone fired shots at him in the area of Linwood and Kensington and then fled the scene in a white sedan. The victim was struck in the shoulder and drove himself to the hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
12:05 a.m., 500 block of E. 105th St.
Officers were dispatched to a disturbance involving gunfire. They found a 15-year-old victim who said two groups of juveniles had been involved in an altercation in the parking lot. One of the juveniles pulled out a gun and fired a shot in the victim’s direction. She was not hit. The suspect then got into a white Jeep and fled the scene, striking another car and a fence as he left. Fortunately, no one was hurt in this incident.
12:42 a.m., 3600 block of Bales Ave.
Officers went to a drive-by shooting where, miraculously, no one was injured. Police recovered more than 160 shell casings from the scene. Children as young as 2 were in the home. Victims said they didn’t see any suspects. The shell casings were from multiple weapons:
21 spent shell casings of 9 mm ammunition
20 spent shell casings .40 caliber ammunition
19 spent shell casings .300 black out ammunition
79 spent shell casings .223 ammunition
21 spent shell casings .45 + 1 live round ammunition
12:55 a.m., dispatched to hospital
Officers went to an area hospital after a shooting victim arrived in the emergency room. He had a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was rushed into surgery with life threatening injuries. Officers spoke with the person who drove the victim to the hospital. The driver was uncooperative and would not answer any questions. Police are still trying to figure out where the original shooting occurred.
1:44 a.m., officers contacted at hospital
While still at the hospital investigating the above shooting, another shooting victim showed up to the ER with a gunshot wound to the neck. The 18-year-old victim drove himself to the hospital and is listed in stable condition. He was uncooperative and refused to answer questions about how he got shot. Other officers saw the man driving to the hospital and believe his injuries could be connected to several reports of shots fired at a house in south Kansas City, but everyone at the home refused to talk to officers.
5:46 a.m., 1800 Brownell
Officers responded to a call of a man in his 40’s who had been shot while driving a moped. He told officers a few possible locations where he was shot, and officers have preliminarily located a crime scene at the plasma center at 6000 Independence Ave. An ambulance took the victim to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
What could anyone have done to prevent these shootings, including police?
Unfortunately, nights like last night have not been unusual lately. Our officers, detectives and crime scene investigators capably responded to and investigated these incidents while handling everything else in the city. But we could not predict them.
We are frustrated and trying a number of tactics to reduce the violence. We are, however, just one piece of the criminal justice system. Many parts of that system have been affected by the pandemic. We’re out on the streets when these shootings happen. We’re gathering evidence, investigating and submitting cases for prosecution. But we are only one entity.
Courts, prosecutors, jails, probation and parole – they’re all part of the criminal justice equation. None of those are operating at normal capacity right now, but areas of the system struggled long before COVID-19. To show how other parts of the criminal justice system have an impact, consider this example: two suspects who have been charged with shooting a 5-year-old during a rolling gun battle down Truman Road last month just had their bond reduced from $100,000 cash only to 10%. One thing we do know is that people involved in crime continue to be involved in crime.
I will be sharing some of the new violent crime prevention initiatives we’re undertaking next week. As you can see, however, we need the assistance of victims, witnesses, and the whole community to make progress against violent crime. We live here, too, and so do our families. We want a safer Kansas City. We want a quiet night for all of our neighborhoods. We can’t do that alone.
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