4-year-old boy is shot and killed in Kansas City

A 4-year-old boy was shot Saturday morning and later pronounced dead at a Kansas City hospital, police said.

The shooting was reported about 7 a.m. in the 400 block of North Elmwood Avenue. Officers said the boy was in his mother’s arms outside the house when they arrived.

Police think the boy was shot inside the house.

The mother and her boyfriend, both in their mid-20s, were being questioned, police said.

Monique Smith of Kansas City said she was a childhood friend of the mother and had stayed with the family the night before the shooting. The family had planned to have a barbecue and go to a waterpark Saturday.

The boy was about to begin kindergarten, Smith said, one block away at Gladstone Elementary School.

“I really don’t know how to feel,” said Smith, who remained at the scene for hours Saturday. “I was just playing video games with him last night.”

Smith said that she didn’t know how the shooting happened, but that the boy was shot in the head.

The boy’s mother and her boyfriend were arguing late Friday, she said. Smith said she woke up to screaming Saturday morning and learned the boy was killed.

“It’s unbelievable to me,” Smith said. “This is not happening.”

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 9:40 AM with the headline "4-year-old boy is shot and killed in Kansas City."