One man dies after shooting Wednesday afternoon, Kansas City police say
Kansas City police are investigating Kansas City’s seventh homicide of the year.
Officers were initially called just after 12:30 pm to the 3100 block of Thompson Avenue on a disturbance that was later upgraded to a shooting call, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman with the Kansas City Police Department, said in an email. There, police found evidence of a crime scene, but didn’t find any victims.
While officers were investigating the initial crime scene, they were contacted by the fire department “who had been flagged down at Admiral and Virginia by a person saying the occupant in their vehicle had been shot,” Becchina said.
Members of the fire department at Admiral Boulevard and Virginia Avenue began rendering aid to the shooting victim in the vehicle. The man was later identified by police as 36-year-old Keith Lars.
Lars was declared dead at the scene, Becchina said.
Police believe the crime scene on Thompson Avenue and the victim found at Admiral Boulevard are related to the same shooting.
Detectives are processing both scenes and canvassing for witnesses, Becchina said. The reason for the shooting was not immediately clear.
In a Twitter post, Mayor Quinton Lucas noted the homicide was the seventh in 13 days.
“It’s time to listen to the many pushing for new approaches beyond a heavy-on-enforcement regimen,” he wrote.
Kansas City ended last year with 182 homicides, the most in the city’s history in a single year, according to data maintained by The Star.
Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information in the killing.
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 January 13, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
