Mass shooting raises fears for World Cup in KC. Still, mayor says: ‘We are very ready’
Two days after a mass shooting along Troost Avenue injured nine, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said City Hall was working to shut down “yet another unlicensed nightclub.”
And while labeling the mass shooting at Troost and 79th Street a “tragedy,” Lucas said he feels confident in the plans in place to keep people from across the world safe as they come here in the next week for the World Cup.
“What I would say is that I think we are very ready for the public safety presence necessary to host a major tournament,” Lucas said Monday in a call with The Star and another media outlet. “ … Particularly where we expect large congregations of persons to exist, our entertainment districts, obviously Fan Fest, Arrowhead Stadium and beyond.
“I believe World Cup visitors will be incredibly safe.”
Lucas went on to say he had “strong confidence” in the Kansas City Police Department and pointed to the “tens of millions of dollars” spent to assure officer presence during the World Cup, drone deployment and other precautions.
Yet, still, Kansas City knows what can happen when a massive group gathers.
More than two years ago, as Kansas City Chiefs fans celebrated a Super Bowl win at Union Station, shots rang out and sent many scrambling for cover. Twenty-three people were injured by gunfire and Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a beloved mother, wife, sister and local DJ, was shot and killed.
After violence this past weekend along Troost — and a fatal shooting inside a Kansas City QuikTrip killed two — some worry about what they see as an uptick in violence at a time hundreds of thousands of visitors are coming to town.
Rosilyn Temple, founder of the local advocacy group KC Mothers in Charge, said she hopes soccer fans who come here know to “be careful and stay where you need to be.”
“... Don’t be roaming everywhere and not knowing where you’re at,” Temple said Monday.
“My concern is that people will come here to our city to visit for the World Cup and they might not make it back home because of the violence here.”
Mass shooting in Kansas City
Kansas City police were called to the 7900 block of Troost around 4 a.m. Saturday after reports of gunfire. When they arrived, officers found a large crowd that was leaving the area.
They also located three women who had been shot and had non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a Kansas City police spokesperson, said in an email that the shooting occurred at a parking lot in the 7900 block of Troost.
In addition to the three women police located, another six people sought treatment for their gunshot injuries.
It isn’t clear what led to the shooting or how many people fired shots.
As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been made, DiMartino said.
“Detectives continue to follow all leads as they come in, but we still need the public’s help,” he said. “We know there were many people present, and various social media videos exist.
DiMartino encouraged anyone with information to call the Assault Squad at 816-234-5227 or the TIPs Hotline.
Trouble surrounding unlicensed clubs?
On social media in the days before the shooting, a party in the area was promoted by Big Mama’s Playhouse. It was a “First Friday After Hours” event billed as somewhere people could go after the nightclubs and bars closed.
The event flyer said the party, at 7926 Troost, was to start at midnight and would cost $5 for women and $10 for men to enter.
“If you ain’t ready to go home when the club close, I got somewhere for you to be!” said a post by Nana Davis promoting the event.
The police department was “not aware of a specific event occurring Saturday morning” at that location, DiMartino said.
“At this point in the investigation, we can’t say anything was related to the establishment at 7926 Troost,” DiMartino said. “All shots were fired outside.”
Lucas said that while he’s confident in the safety surrounding the World Cup, he’s also focused on what Kansas City residents experience in their community.
“I don’t want nine people shot every weekend either,” Lucas said. “We don’t want to see mass shootings, and that’s why, if you notice, I’ve taken an aggressive stance towards uncontrolled spaces, whether they be parking lots or these nightclubs, these unlicensed nightclubs.
“My understanding so far is an event space that is just rented out, people have a bring-your-own-beer-and-alcohol sort of environment, then they throw it on Facebook as a party, and we all deal with repercussions thereafter,” he said. “City Hall will work very hard to shut them down. We will work very hard to investigate as swiftly as possible and to use every legal tool possible to fight it. “
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office also has seen multiple instances, a spokesperson said, where violent activity has occurred in and around establishments that “operate outside the bounds of the law or operate under conditions where violence is far more likely to occur.”
“We will continue to work closely with city officials and law enforcement, including the Multidisciplinary Public Safety Task Force,” said Jazzlyn Johnson, an office spokesperson, “to ensure those responsible for violence and unsafe conditions are held accountable.”
‘A community problem’
Temple said she was angry when she heard about the shooting. And she worries that if the violence doesn’t stop soon, it will only get worse.
“It’s a community problem,” she said. “Because someone knows who these people are (who are) shooting guns, shooting at each other.
“And the community keeps turning our heads and thinking it’s not our problem. It is our problem.”
People in Kansas City, Temple said, have become “so numb” to the violence, to the gunshots and police tape and word of another shooting or homicide.
“We’ve got to come out of that,” she said. “We have to find a way as a community to step up. … We are going to have to speak up and say we’re not going to tolerate this.”
“I really think the police is doing their job,” Temple said. “They can’t be everywhere. They are doing the best they can.”
She pointed to this past weekend, where not only was there the mass shooting on Troost, but two men were killed at the Quiktrip on Westport Road. One victim was 24 years old, the other 18.
Those deaths were the 56th and 57th homicide in Kansas City so far this year, which is a decrease from this time last year, according to data tracked by The Star.
When asked if the weekend violence spurred any changes in the security plans for the World Cup, DiMartino said “every incident that occurs in our city prompts additional discussions..”
But, the mass shooting “does not change our approach to public safety.”
“As you have seen in several years we have devoted resources in and around our entertainment districts,” he said. “World Cup planning has been several years in the making and the goal remains to make this event safe for everyone, this includes safety around entertainment districts.
“What is important to remember whether the incident occurs at a nightclub, a parking lot, or an unlicensed business is we continue to see people resolve conflict with violence.”
The Star’s Nathan Pilling, Eleanor Nash and Emily Harter contributed to this report.
