Kansas City police search for leads after homicide victim found on Independence Avenue
One person was found fatally injured Wednesday night on busy Independence Avenue in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood as Kansas City has seen an uptick of violence over the last three days with a total of five people killed.
Kansas City police officers were already in the area of Independence and Garfield avenues when a call for emergency medical services came in around 9 p.m., said Officer Donna Drake, a KCPD spokeswoman.
As an officer was investigating the call, Drake said, a second 911 call came in directing police to the intersection of Independence and Olive two blocks east.
In the middle of the thoroughfare, the officer located a victim suffering from apparent trauma, Drake said. The victim was taken by ambulance to the hospital and pronounced dead there.
Police did not know what caused the fatal injury Wednesday night. No details about the victim were immediately known, Drake said.
Homicide detectives and crime scene personnel were called in to investigate. Drake said detectives were searching for any potential witnesses and surveillance video from the area to learn more about how the victim ended up in the roadway.
As Kansas City has now seen 33 homicides in 2023, Drake called for anyone with information to come forward to detectives or make an anonymous tip. She said the person killed Wednesday night has a family.
“That family is going to get a knock on their door tonight with some really awful news,” Drake said, adding: “imagine what that would be like if the police were knocking on your door.”
“What would you want the city of Kansas City to do for your family? You would want them to step up and say what they saw,” she added.
Kansas City police have opened five homicide cases so far this week.
On Monday around 8 a.m., a 29-year-old woman was fatally shot in a residence in the 11500 block of Food Lane.
On Tuesday afternoon, one man was fatally shot in the parking lot of a Family Dollar in the 10400 block of Blue Ridge Boulevard. Around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, a woman was found in the front yard of a residence in the 4300 block of East Seventh Street with unknown fatal injuries after police were called to a reported disturbance.
Earlier Wednesday, a man was found dead inside an apartment in the 2000 block of East Linwood Boulevard. A person of interest was detained by police in that investigation and no suspects were actively being sought.
Kansas City police were asking anyone with information about homicide cases to contact detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or call the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.
