‘They don’t care about the district.’ Business owners question KCPD presence
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- A Friday night shooting near 18th and Vine killed one person and wounded five others.
- Detectives say multiple people fired in different directions along 19th Street.
- Business owners say the Jazz District lacks sustained police presence late at night.
One person was killed and five others were injured in a shooting near Kansas City’s 18th and Vine Jazz District on Friday night, reigniting criticism from business owners who say the area has not received the same level of police presence as other entertainment districts.
“We’ve been complaining about that for years, there’s all kinds of police officers in the city right now,” said Henry Service, an attorney. “We even employed police officers from other states to police the World Cup, right? And for years they have not policed properly in the Jazz District. They just don’t police down there. They don’t care about the district.”
Police said officers patrolling near 18th Street and The Paseo heard gunfire shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday.
On 19th Street between The Paseo and Vine Street, officers found two women with gunshot wounds who were conscious and alert and one man who was unresponsive, Kansas City Police Department spokesman Capt. Jacob Becchina said in a release.
Officers later learned that three additional victims — one woman and two men — arrived at a hospital in a private vehicle. One of the men was listed in critical condition Friday, according to police.
According to preliminary investigation findings, detectives believe multiple people standing along 19th Street between Vine Street and The Paseo began shooting in different directions.
The shooting happened just blocks from the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration in the 18th and Vine Jazz District, where residents and business owners have for years called for a stronger police presence during major events and late-night hours.
Service, whose office sits at the corner of 18th Street and Vine Street, said business owners have spent years requesting additional patrols and, at one point, pushed for dedicated funding to increase police presence in the district.
“We need police when the bars close, like they do for everybody else,” Service said. “If you go to Power & Light and the bars let out, all you see is police directing people.”
Service said the district has seen periods where officers maintained a visible presence and interacted regularly with business owners and visitors. During those times, he said, serious incidents were rare.
He argued that problems often arise after events end and crowds remain in the area without the same level of police presence found in other entertainment districts.
“It’s when the bars end and people are out on the streets and people have been drinking,” Service said. “There’s violence everywhere. It would be the same way in Westport. It would be the same way in Power & Light.”
Service said hundreds of people attended Juneteenth events throughout the day without major issues but questioned whether enough officers remained in the area after official activities concluded and crowds dispersed.
The Star asked the Kansas City Police Department how many officers were assigned to the area during Juneteenth events.
Becchina said Juneteenth activities had ended by 10 p.m. and that the shooting occurred outside the event footprint.
He said officers in the area were working as part of the department’s weekly entertainment district deployment plan, which includes “a couple dozen officers” assigned across entertainment districts on weekends.
Becchina said officers from outside agencies brought in for FIFA World Cup assignments were not assigned to patrol other parts of the city.
He did not provide the number of officers assigned specifically to the 18th and Vine area Friday night.
Chris Linder, a shift captain and security officer with SK Security, said the fatal shooting happened after Juneteenth festivities had concluded and private security officers had left the area.
“The shooting happened right where I left last night,” Linder said. “We all left at nine. I got home and was in bed when it happened.”
Linder said security personnel were operating in five zones throughout Saturday’s celebration, watching for suspicious activity and helping control access to the event area by unauthorized vendors.
He said he was unsure what the Kansas City Police Department’s security plans were for the event. Several patrol vehicles were visible throughout the festival grounds Saturday.
“We just want the same stuff that everybody else has,” Service said. “Same policing, same funding, same respect.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 12:44 PM.
