Over 100 homicides reported in KC metro so far this year, according to Star data
More than 100 homicides have been reported in the Kansas City metropolitan area this year as of Wednesday, according to data tracked by The Kansas City Star.
Seventy-five of these homicides took place in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Star includes fatal officer-involved shootings when tallying and recording homicides in the Kansas City metro area.
Chestina Gaskin, 23, was the 100th person to be killed in the metro area in 2024. Gaskin was shot in the head on June 26 shortly before noon at the Emerson Manor apartments, according to Kansas City police.
Several hours later, 17-year-old Michael Welch was fatally shot in Kansas City, Kansas.
Travon Oliver, 22, was charged with murder this week in connection to Gaskin’s death. Police detectives believe the two had been in a domestic relationship, according to court documents.
“Captain” Vonzell Bryant, 70, was the first person to be reported killed in the metro area this year. Bryant, a popular DJ and promoter, was shot Jan. 3 just after midnight in the Washington-Wheatley neighborhood of Kansas City.
At this time last year, 100 homicides had been reported in Kansas City, Missouri, alone. Across the whole metro area, 131 homicides were reported.
2023 was Kansas City’s deadliest year on record, with 246 homicides reported across the metro area. The 2024 homicide rate is about on pace with the 2022 homicide rate, according to data tracked by The Star.
Sixteen of the homicide victims reported in 2024 have been under the age of 18, according to Star data. Eleven of the juvenile homicide victims, or 68.75%, took place in Kansas City, Missouri.
The homicide rate in Kansas City, Kansas, is on pace with last year; 13 homicides were reported in the city by June 26 this year, and 12 by the same time last year.
Meanwhile, three times as many homicides have been reported in Independence in the first half of this year relative to the same months last year. Three homicides were reported in the city last year; nine have occurred this year, most recently on June 5, when 20-year-old Donnie Kirkland was fatally shot near the Sugar Creek Apartments.
Conversely, six people were killed in Olathe by this time last year, while one homicide took place in the city this year. Brianna Rachelle Higgins, 15, was fatally shot on Jan. 19 outside the Clarion Park Apartments.
As in the past, the majority of homicides in the Kansas City metro area this year have been fatal shootings.
The Kansas City Police Department reported that 56 homicides taking place last year remained unsolved by the end of the year. KCPD does not include officer-involved shootings in homicide statistics.
Kansas City, Missouri officials have said they hope 2024 represents a downturn in the city’s homicide rate, after homicides began spiking in 2020.
At a press conference just before Memorial Day Weekend, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the city was “trending in the right direction” after a violent year in 2023.
2020 was previously considered Kansas City’s deadliest year on record, with 182 homicides tracked by The Star.
Lucas has attributed the apparent drop in homicides in part to proactive social intervention programs, as well as to police activity.
“This is not a celebration,” he told reporters at the May 24 press conference. “We don’t celebrate at any point until the point at which we have zero homicides and zero non-fatal shootings in our city.”
Reporting from The Star’s Nathan Pilling was used in this article.
