Shots fired at Kansas City police lead to standoff near 59th and Swope Parkway

Police responding to reports of shooting early Sunday morning in a Kansas City neighborhood were met with gunfire, starting an hours-long standoff at a home with several people inside.

The shootout and standoff came after a night filled with violent incidents across Kansas City that left eight people injured and two dead.

About 4:30 a.m., police were called to the neighborhood near 59th and Swope Parkway to respond to a disturbance outside a home and an unknown person firing a gun in the area.

As officers arrived, someone shot at them and continued to fire for several minutes, forcing the officers to take cover. One officer returned fire. No officers were injured.

Police from all over the city responded to the scene.

Police determined that the shooting was coming from one house. A standoff began and lasted for several hours. Police established a command post at the nearby Southeast High School, 3500 E. Meyer Blvd.

During the course of the standoff, several people left the house and talked to detectives.

“We’re not exactly sure how many people were there at the time of the shooting,” said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department. “However, numerous people have come out and we are working to determine who all was there during the shooting.”

Everyone who left the residence did so on their own, Becchina said. They were placed on a RideKC bus parked near the command post “just to have everybody in a the same place in a safe, cool environment where they could sit down and be refreshed as they were talking to detectives.”

The standoff was never a hostage situation, he said.

One man had been shot during the initial exchange of gunfire with police and was taken to a hospital with an injury that did not appear to be life-threatening.

About 9:30 a.m. police determined that everyone had left the home. A tactical team searched the residence, followed by crime scene technicians and investigators who worked to learn what had happened there overnight.

This story was originally published August 5, 2018 at 2:18 PM.