Man found shot in Kansas City street as violent Fourth of July weekend nears end
A man shot in the abdomen Sunday night in a Kansas City neighborhood was one of the last casualties of an Independence Day weekend that left a teenager shot and four people dead.
The man was found in the middle of the street about 9 p.m. near East 39th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to Kansas City police Sgt. Keith Huntington. The victim was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, Huntington said.
Officers secured the area with crime scene tape, searching for witnesses to interview and evidence to collect, as some of the last fireworks of the weekend were set off nearby.
No suspect information has been released.
The shooting came at the end of a violent holiday weekend in Kansas City.
Early Sunday morning, 25-year-old Ki’essence Pelton died after she was shot while riding in a vehicle near 39th Street and Myrtle Avenue, less than two miles from where the man was shot Sunday night.
A teenage boy was critically injured in a shooting and two men were found dead in separate incidents Saturday.
The teenager was shot in the chest Saturday night in the 3600 block of Cypress Avenue. He was taken to a hospital after arriving officers found him outside a home.
Earlier in the day, the body of local rapper Mack Jones, also known by his stage name Smacc Turner, was found “in a state of decomposition” in a vehicle in the 6600 block of Monroe Avenue, police said. His death was being investigated as a homicide.
The body of Gregory Payton Jr. of Kansas City, Kansas, was found that morning in a vehicle in the 3900 block of Topping Avenue. He appeared to have been shot, police said. His death was being investigated as a homicide.
Police were also investigating the homicide of 48-year-old Lynn Armstrong, who was found dead Friday in an apartment in the 9300 block of Myrtle Avenue. His cause of death was not immediately known but police suspected foul play.
The reward for information leading to an arrest in a Kansas City killing has recently increased to $25,000.
This story was originally published July 7, 2019 at 10:45 PM.
