KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Early Sunday morning, two people died and three others were injured in a shooting near Kansas City’s downtown entertainment district.
This happened around 3:30 a.m. on August 24 near E 13th Street and Grand Boulevard, just under two blocks from the T-Mobile Center.
The Kansas City Police and Fire Departments responded. KCPD said the preliminary investigation shows there was an argument that led to multiple shots being fired in a parking lot in the area.
One man died at the scene. Another man, who was in critical condition, died in the hospital around 6:40 a.m. Their ages and identities have not been released.
Three other victims, including one man, one juvenile boy, and a woman, were hospitalized. The juvenile is in critical condition, KCPD said. The other man has serious injuries, and the woman has non-life-threatening injuries.
“I don’t know much, if anything, that is worth pulling a firearm out and shooting someone,” said KCPD Sergeant Phil DiMartino. “Whether it is an argument, a disagreement, whatever it might be, nothing is worth someone losing their life over. Now all of these people have been shot, it doesn’t just affect the victims directly involved; an entire community can feel those effects.”
Many people woke up to the sound of shots on Sunday.
“Man, it was like at least a minimum of 150 gunshots if not more,” said Richard Ruiz, who lives in Three Light.
Ruiz lives on the 19th floor. He said he wasn’t the only one who got up to see what was happening.
“I got up, went to the balcony, and I saw cars screeching out of here, cop cars pulling up, an ambulance, I mean, it was insane,” said Ruiz. “I feel like it has gotten worse just every year; it is more and more.”
Bullet holes can be seen on The College Basketball Experience and The Grand Apartments. Ruiz said it can be frustrating, as this is becoming a common occurrence when living downtown.
“We pay a lot of money to live here, and then it is just like every weekend you hear people, gunshots, and all kinds of crazy stuff down here,” said Ruiz.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to the shooting with a reference to his recently proposed surface lot ordinance.
The law aims to regulate parking lots in entertainment districts, including KCP&L, 18th and Vine, Westport, and the Country Club Plaza, where a large number of shootings occur.
You can read more on the proposed ordinance here. If passed, it could require owners to add lighting, fences, and security, depending on what the lot is used for.
“We know this is downtown, there is a lot of surveillance, so we are hoping to find some surveillance that gives us a better picture of what happened here,” said DiMartino.
KCPD is still investigating what led up to Sunday’s shooting; they plan to review the surveillance video in the area. Anyone with information can contact the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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