‘Mean and evil:’ Riverside community shocked by double-homicide, abduction
In a quiet Northland neighborhood just outside Riverside, where elderly men and women have retired and young families raise children, people are trying to make sense of an abduction and deadly shooting.
The news of a man sought by police for shooting and killing two people and abducting a child left them disturbed and frightened. Gunfire and sirens interrupted their sleep.
“I just saw the family playing outside the other day,” said Dawn McEnroe, who lives in the neighborhood. “It’s hard to believe.”
The streets are lined with red brick homes and two-story family dwellings, and the yards are decorated with a collection of toys, gnomes and doormats.
A house in the middle of the block, along Northwest 50th Street and Linder Lane, is blocked off by crime scene tape. At the home, a gunman allegedly shot two people, killing one and seriously injuring another just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday, according to authorities.
The shooter, later identified by police as 43-year-old George C. Manning III, then allegedly abducted Giuliana Manning from the home, according to the highway patrol.
Before the abduction, Manning allegedly shot a woman and took her vehicle around 11 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Vivion Road and Northwest High Drive in Riverside, according to Capt. Jeffrey Shanks, a spokesman with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.
Around 5 a.m., after an Amber Alert had been issued for Giuliana, Manning released her to one of his family members and the girl was found safe and unharmed, Shanks said.
Hours later, officers with the Kansas City Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security saw Manning walking with a gun along Northwest Vivion Road, said Cpl. Justin Howard, a spokesman with the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop A, during a morning news conference.
The officers fired their guns at Manning, striking him. Manning was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbors reeling after shooting
An 81-year-old resident said she didn’t hear the gunshots, but the Amber Alert on her cellphone woke her up. The woman, who only gave her first name because she feared for her safety, said she was frightened.
The woman, whose first name is Shirley, said she saw sheriff’s deputy vehicles speed past her home on Northwest 50th Street.
Shirley said she had spoken with the Mannings before, and knew Giuliana pretty well.
“They were a sweet family,” she said. “She’s a darling girl. In the summertime, they would all ride their bikes.”
Shirley said she handed out cookies to the children when they rode their bikes near her home.
It was difficult to believe that a deadly shooting had happened just down the street. And that a seemingly sweet family was struck with tragedy, she said.
McEnroe, who is a nurse, said when she saw ambulances and fire trucks early Friday, she feared someone had a heart attack. In her world, that happens pretty often.
To her surprise, it was much worse, she said.
“Then I saw them take out a couple ‘patients,’ and I saw the Amber Alert and just thought, ‘oh, I hope everything is OK,’” McEnroe said.
McEnroe said she remembers talking with the family when their dog got loose and when they threw parties and backyard barbecues. McEnroe said she has lived in the neighborhood for almost 50 years, and nothing like this has ever happened.
“They were a nice family. And they didn’t seem like any trouble or anything,” McEnroe said.
McEnroe said it makes her nervous that an abduction happened in her neighborhood, but she is grateful that the child was found safely.
“That is so sad. This poor person that lost their life, they didn’t do anything,” McEnroe said. “That’s terrible. Be an adult, and take responsibility for what you do in your life. Show our kids what it’s like to be nice, not mean and evil.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM.
