‘The boy was asleep’: Child killed after gunfire strikes Kansas City apartment
Update: The boy was identified by police as 4-year-old Legend M. Taliferro. (Click here for story)
A young boy was fatally shot overnight Monday in Kansas City, police said.
Members of the Kansas City Police Department were called to a shooting about 2:30 a.m. in the 1600 Block of Bushman Road, near East 63rd Street and The Paseo, Kansas City police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina said in an email Monday morning.
On the way to the scene, officers were told a family member was driving a young boy who had been shot to the hospital.
The boy died a short time later, Becchina said.
People at the same apartment as the boy told police they awoke to gunshots coming from outside the home. Then they found the boy, who had also been sleeping, was shot.
“This is a nightmare for any parent and I can’t imagine the pain with which they’re dealing this morning,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted Monday morning. “The boy was asleep. Malicious shooting with no regard for others claims another innocent life in our city.”
The boy’s name and age had not been released as of early Monday.
The investigation is ongoing as police continue canvassing the area and searching for a suspect. A police dog sniffed for evidence about 8 a.m. Monday as police continued to work behind crime scene tape outside the apartment.
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Kansas City Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
Information leading to an arrest could be eligible for a $25,000 cash reward.
The child’s death is the city’s 94th homcide of the year. That compares to 67 homicides reported by this time last year.
A 15-year-old girl was also fatally shot in the metro early Monday, Kansas City, Kansas, police said. She was taken to a local hospital after shots were into the vehicle she was in. She later died.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 6:56 AM.
