Double shooting at KCK park turns into homicide investigation after 1 victim dies
One victim of a double shooting over the weekend at a Kansas City, Kansas, park has died, according to a news release from police.
Juan Perez, 23, of Kansas City, Kansas, died Wednesday from injuries sustained in the shooting shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday at Kaw Point Park, at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, according to police.
The other victim remained hospitalized in serious condition Thursday, but is expected to recover, a spokeswoman for police said. No suspect information was released.
Perez’s death is the 52nd homicide of the year in Kansas City, Kansas, according to data kept by The Star. By this time last year, there had been 29 killings.
The killing is being investigated by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone with information related to the double shooting is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
The Unified Government’s Parks and Recreation Department, with support from the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, announced that park at 1403 Fairfax Trafficway will be closed from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily.
“The decision was made in an effort to manage and minimize the on-going issues of unauthorized after-hours gatherings at the park that have caused significant property damage and pose the potential to be super-spreader events,” the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department said on its Facebook page. “So while the early-morning shooting which took place there on Sunday did not precipitate this decision, it certainly reinforces it.”
Gun violence is the subject of a 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 November 12, 2020 at 4:16 PM.
