Victim of Tuesday morning shooting at Plaza hotel has died, Kansas City police say
The victim in a shooting Tuesday morning at a Kansas City hotel has died, police said.
Officers were called at about 8 a.m. to the Sheraton Suites County Club Plaza in the 700 block of West 47th Street on a shooting call, said Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City Police Department.
At the scene, police found a man in his 30s suffering from gunshot wounds in the lobby, Foreman said. The victim was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
In an update at about 12:10 p.m. Tuesday, Foreman said the victim had since died.
Several witnesses at the scene gave officers a description of the suspect, who they said fled after the shooting, Foreman said. Police then took a suspect into custody a short distance from the hotel based on the description. Witnesses also told police that the shooting seemed to stem from a dispute between the suspect and the victim.
Foreman said officers contacted the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and asked them not to let anyone in the area on city buses immediately following the shooting.
“That actually worked in our favor and we were able to take this person into custody before they were able to get on a bus,” she said.
The suspect, who has not yet been charged, has not been publicly identified. The victim’s name will be released after their family has been notified.
Foreman said Tuesday afternoon that she didn’t know if the victim and suspect were from Kansas City or from out of town. She added that the Plaza hotel and surrounding area is safe to return to.
“Multiple lives are affected today, destroyed today,” she said. “Everyone who’s a victim has someone who cares about them, and those are the worst notifications to have to make.”
The killing marked the 76th homicide this year in Kansas City, according to data maintained by The Star. There had been 95 homicides by this time last year, which was the deadliest in the city’s history with 182 homicides.
Police asked anyone with information to call its homicide unit at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
“We cannot be successful without the community’s help,” Foreman said, urging people to reach out with information on any of the unsolved homicides. “It is just critical. The community help us so much, so much more than most people probably realize.”
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 seeks the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 12:37 PM.
