Weekend shootings in busy, public places in Kansas City area leave 1 dead, 6 injured
A rash of shootings in the Kansas City area over the weekend — some of them in and around busy restaurants — left one man dead and six people injured, including a 4-year-old struck by a stray bullet.
Several of the incidents took place in broad daylight in heavily trafficked areas, including the fatal shooting Friday of a man in the parking lot of a Raytown Applebee's.
That was followed on Saturday afternoon by a double shooting inside Lutfi's Fried Fish in Midtown Kansas City and a shootout at a south Kansas City gas station that injured one of the shooters and caused a child to be struck by a stray bullet. Early Sunday morning, two people were shot at the popular hamburger restaurant Town Topic on Broadway in the Crossroads Arts District.
Police have not drawn any connections among the shootings. The Kansas City area often sees several shootings in a weekend, but not always in such public places.
The Friday shooting that killed 30-year-old Sammy Holmes, of Kansas City, Kan., is being investigated by the Kansas City metro squad.
Police think Holmes was shot about 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Applebee's restaurant at 9339 Missouri 350 Highway. He was found a short time later at a Sonic restaurant, lying in the street near the scene of a vehicle wreck. He died at a hospital.
On Sunday, the Kansas City metro squad investigating the homicide released surveillance video in an attempt to identify a woman seen leaving the Applebee's before the shooting.
"We are trying to get in touch with her," said Capt. Dyon Harper with the Raytown Police Department. "We think she may have seen something or may have been outside when the incident occurred."
Police were not calling the woman a suspect or a person of interest. Police wanted to get in touch with her to learn whatever information she might have regarding the homicide, Harper said.
In addition to that woman's identity, the metro squad was asking for additional tips.
"This is a busy shopping area," Harper said. "We believe somebody saw something. Even if they didn't see the incident itself occur, maybe they saw a vehicle leaving the scene quickly or somebody on foot leaving the scene."
Victims in other shootings over the weekend survived.
In Kansas City, two employees were shot about 2:30 p.m. Saturday inside Lutfi's Fried Fish at 3037 Main Street, while the restaurant was open. Someone entered the restaurant and fired multiple shots toward the kitchen, injuring a man and a woman, according to police.
Both victims were taken to a hospital. One was reported to be in critical condition while the other had injuries that did not appear to be life threatening.
A suspect vehicle was seen driving away, headed north on Main Street, but police had no description of it.
Later on Saturday, about 6 p.m., two men engaged in a shootout at a gas station at 3401 Red Bridge Road in south Kansas City.
An off-duty police officer who lived nearby heard the gunshots and responded to the scene, taking a man into custody. That man, later identified as 35-year-old Ellery H. Beals, had been shot in the ribs but the wound did not appear to be life-threatening.
According to police, surveillance video showed Beals exchanging gunfire with another man.
Several hundred yards away, police found that a bullet had entered through the rear a home and struck a 4-year-old in the arm. The child was taken to a hospital and the injury did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Jackson County prosecutors on Sunday announced charges against Beals in connection with the shooting. He is charged with unlawful use of a weapon, assault and two counts of armed criminal action.
Prosecutors requested that Beals be held on a $100,000 cash bond. The investigation into the shooting continues.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a message posted to Twitter that the child is recovering.
Also under investigation by Kansas City police is a double shooting early Sunday morning at a popular hamburger restaurant in Kansas City's Crossroads Arts District.
The shooting was reported about 3:10 a.m. at Town Topic, 2021 Broadway, which stays open 24 hours every day of the week.
Police learned that the shooter approached the victims as they were sitting in a car in the back parking lot. The shooter pulled out a handgun and shot both victims, then fled before police arrived.
The victims were taken to a hospital in serious condition, but their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
In all four of the shootings, police or employees said they thought surveillance video was available. Police said they were working to gather video from Lutfi's Fried Fish. Employees at Town Topic said police had already collected video from the restaurant.
On Sunday, news of the shootings had reached Rosilyn Temple, executive director of the anti-violence group KC Mothers in Charge. Normally she is alerted to homicides, but not every nonfatal shooting. This weekend, however, the brazen character of the shootings had people talking, she said.
"We need to get more active with the Police Department and see what we can do to help," Temple said.
"Who has these guns who should not have them? They're walking into businesses and restaurants and killing people. Once again, a stray bullet hit a baby. We need to do better."
While it is fortunate that most of the victims this weekend lived, she said, many will likely be traumatized for life.
Kansas City is on track for another bloody year, with 49 homicides recorded as of June 10. At that pace, the city will reach more than 100 by the end of the year.
This story was originally published June 10, 2018 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Weekend shootings in busy, public places in Kansas City area leave 1 dead, 6 injured."