Man shot and killed on Jackson Avenue, marking Kansas City’s 3rd homicide on Monday

Officers responded Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, to a death investigation in the 1500 block of Jackson Avenue in Kansas City, according to police.

A man was killed during a midday shooting Monday in eastern Kansas City, which marked the third homicide in the city that day, according to police.

Officers responded about 12:15 p.m. to a call of an unresponsive man on the ground in a yard in the 1500 block of Jackson Avenue in the city’s East Community Team North neighborhood, said Sgt. Leslie Foreman, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department.

The victim appeared to have been suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. He died at the scene.

Detectives believe an argument led up to the shooting, Foreman said.

No suspect information was available. Because the shooting occurred in the middle of the day in a residential area, Foreman said, police hoped that nearby witnesses could assist them in the investigation.

The killing marked the 144th homicide this year in Kansas City, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. It was also the third homicide Monday and the 11th in the last week across the metro area.

By this time in 2020, which marked the deadliest year in the city’s history, there had been 176 killings. There had been 143 homicides by this time in 2019, according to The Star’s data.

“Hard to see the staggering amount of crime we’ve experienced recently and to hear folks merely say we need more of the status quo that has us flirting with murder records for years,” Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote Monday afternoon on Twitter. “Those of us who care about these issues beyond slogans will keep pushing for a safer Kansas City.”

Monday shootings

Before the killing on Jackson Avenue, a shooting early Monday morning left one person dead and two others hospitalized in Westport.

Off-duty officers were near Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue in the Westport Entertainment District when they heard the firing of multiple gunshots about 2:40 a.m. Around the same time, officers were called to the area of Archibald Avenue and Broadway Boulevard, where a second gunshot victim was found.

One of the victims, 24-year-old Ja’Braughn James, died at a hospital from his injuries. The other victims were reported to be in stable condition.

About the same time as the Westport shootings, a man was found shot in a parking lot on Hickman Mills Drive at about 2:30 a.m.

Officers found the man unresponsive, suffering from gunshot wounds. He died at the scene. No victim or suspect information was immediately available.

Meanwhile, in Independence, one person was hospitalized Monday morning after they were shot in the area of South Cogan Drive and Milton Drive. One person was taken into custody, police said.

Kansas City police asked anyone with information to call the homicide unit at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.

“The smallest things will help sometimes,” Foreman told reporters near Jackson Avenue. “This is holidays time of year and someone has lost their life to a homicide. ... Please, if you have any information, just call and help us solve this for this family.”

The Star’s Kaitlin Washburn, Humera Lodhi, Anna Spoerre and Robert A. Cronkleton contributed to this report.

Gun violence is the subject of a statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.

To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.