Surveillance video shows fatal shooting near south KC church; investigation continues
Surveillance video shows people running away from the parking lot behind a south Kansas City church after a man was fatally shot late Monday night, the second such tragedy for one family within 48 hours.
Officers responded to reports of shots fired about 10:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of East 103rd Street, where they found a crime scene near a basketball court in the parking lot behind the Evangel Church.
The shooting victim, Charles Pelton, 18, showed up at a local hospital, where he died shortly after. The killing came hours after his cousin, Ki’essence Pelton, 25, was shot and killed while riding in a car early Sunday near 39th Street and Myrtle Avenue.
Police have not released any information about a suspect or announced any arrests. Anyone with information about the homicide was asked by police to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
“We’re truly devastated,” their cousin, Rishard Pelton, said Tuesday.
After Charles Pelton’s killing, witnesses told police a white SUV fled the scene, something that can be seen in the grainy, black and white video obtained by The Star.
Just before the shooting, a white SUV is shown backing into a parking spot next to a dark vehicle near the basketball court. As gunfire erupts, the video shows, players and spectators scramble for cover.
A neighbor said he heard at least 17 gunshots fired from two guns.
The killing was being investigated as Kansas City’s 72nd of 73 homicides this year, according to data kept by The Star. By that time last year, the city recorded 62 homicides in a year that ended with 138.
The deaths of the two cousins in separate, apparently unrelated shootings, were among a recent spate of violence in Kansas City that left seven people dead within five days.
The Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission, which runs the TIPS Hotline, recently increased the reward offered for tips that lead to an arrest in a Kansas City homicide from $10,000 to $25,000.
