Kansas City police investigate 3 separate shootings that occurred within 26 minutes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - In less than 30 minutes, Kansas City police responded to three separate shootings Sunday during an already deadly year.

Kansas City is on track to surpass the deadliest year in the city’s history, which was 2020. That year, 179 people were killed.

To date this year, Kansas City has recorded 59 homicides. During the same time, from Jan. 1 to May 8, the KCPD had investigated 56 homicides during 2022, 2021 and 2020.

“When we realize that there are people behind those numbers -- there are families, they are entire communities -- that are that are affected by just even one homicide,” said Branden Mims, AdHoc Group Against Crime’s Chief Operating Officer.

At 5:47 p.m. Sunday, police were called to Red Bridge Road and Blue Ridge Boulevard after a man went to a nearby restaurant to report he had been shot. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.

“We have a lot of guns accessible to a lot of people right now that don’t know how to deal with conflict,” said Bishop Frank Douglas Jr., AdHoc’s Community Program Coordinator. “The inability to resolve issues that should be minor.”

At 6:07 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a shooting near 39th and Bales. A victim was driven to a hospital in a private vehicle with critical injuries.

Six minutes later, at 6:13 p.m. Sunday, a third shooting was reported near 12th and Denver. First responders conducted lifesaving measures when they found a victim lying in a grassy area. The victim was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

“Where it starts is we all need to be enraged with what’s going on. This isn’t necessarily a police issue; this is a neighborhood issue,” Douglas Jr. said. “It’s not just the urban or suburban. It is a neighborhood issue that we have to be neighbors to one another.”

“We have to not accept violence as the norm, as the usual mode of operation in Kansas City,” Mims said. “It’s a problem whether it is in 20 minutes or 24 hours.”

Douglas Jr., whose son Cameron Douglas was fatally shot when he was just 23 years old in 2019 in Kansas City, said he does not want another father to experience the pain he and his family endured.

“We have to be outraged that another human being has chosen to take a life,” Douglas Jr. said. “It’s a choice when you take a life.”

Mims said community organizations are working together along with new leadership at the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.

“The hope that we have is we are talking. We are communicating. We are no longer working in silos. We can really get something done,” Mims said. “That’s the hope.”

Anyone with information about Sunday’s shootings can anonymously call the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Kansas City, Missouri, Police Chief Stacey Graves will share plans on how to reduce violent crime in Kansas City at the first quarterly listening session. Community members are invited to attend to give feedback this Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. at the United Believers Community Church off 112th Terrace in KCMO.

The listening sessions are open to all. Attendees are asked to RSVP. You can do so by clicking here.

Copyright 2023 KCTV. All rights reserved.