Man shot in northeast Kansas City home is city’s fifth homicide victim in 48 hours
Editor’s note: Police on Monday identified the victim as 34-year-old Michael Uttley.
Police are searching for two suspects after a man was shot to death Sunday afternoon in a northeast Kansas City home, marking the city’s fifth homicide in 48 hours.
Officers were called to the shooting about 6:30 p.m. in the 400 block of South White Avenue in the city’s South Indian Mound neighborhood, according to Capt. David Jackson, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
The victim’s girlfriend told detectives that two men arrived at the home and asked to speak with her boyfriend. She went upstairs and then heard gunshots, Jackson said. The victim died at the scene.
The two men fled on foot in an unknown direction. No suspect description was available as of Sunday night.
“We’re confident we’ll be able to identify them relatively quickly,” Jackson told reporters.
The killing marked the 39th this year in Kansas City. There had been 38 homicides by this time last year, which ended with 182 homicides, the most in the city’s history in a single year, according to data maintained by The Star.
The homicide Sunday night was also the fifth since about 6:30 p.m. Friday. Jackson said he did not think the sergeant over the homicide squad working over the weekend had not been home in a few days.
“That certainly takes its toll,” he said. “We’re all people too.”
Police asked anyone with information to call detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
Gun violence is 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 March 21, 2021 at 8:26 PM.
