Toddler killed in Sunday morning drive-by shooting in Kansas City

The 3-year-old boy was in a bedroom in his father’s home at 10:15 Sunday morning when the shooting started.

By the time police arrived at East 67th Street and Walrond Avenue, the toddler was dead, the victim of a spray of gunfire from a drive-by shooter.

It was the fifth killing of a child this year in Kansas City. In all of last year, the city recorded four homicides involving a child age 16 or younger.

Police had no suspects on Sunday.

Mayor Sly James called the killing a senseless act by “armed idiots.”

“My heart goes out to parents and families of children taken from us this way,” he said in a statement. “The tragic deaths of Kansas City children by idiots driving around in cars with guns has got to stop.”

Authorities did not release the boy’s name on Sunday. Police spokesman Tye Grant said three other children and two adults, including the boy’s father, were inside the two-story, yellow house, but no other injuries were reported.

Crime scene investigators marked more than a dozen bullet holes in the house, and police said at least two more homes were hit.

Derrick Hale, the toddler’s grandfather, was one of the grieving relatives and concerned neighbors gathered outside the home, which is about four blocks east of Bruce R. Watkins Drive.

“We’re just trying to figure out why it happened,” Hale said. “Hopefully we will get some justice without any other stupidness.”

A neighbor said the residents had moved into the house about three months ago. The boy was visiting his father, who was asleep in an upstairs bedroom at the time of the shooting.

“This is a cowardly act,” said Lisa Hale, the toddler’s great-aunt. “Anytime someone would drive by and shoot up a home in total disregard of who is in that home and you kill an innocent child, that is a cowardly act.”

Another relative said the family members were distraught and thought the gunshots were intended for bedrooms on the first floor.

“Whoever did this should be ashamed,” said Timothy Roe, a cousin of the father.

The mayor urged anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline number at 816-474-TIPS (816-474-8477).

“People know who did this, and I call on them to do the right thing ... so we can catch and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” James said.

This story was originally published May 31, 2015 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Toddler killed in Sunday morning drive-by shooting in Kansas City."