Afraid, frustrated: Neighbors near 19th and Vine killing want end to Kansas City violence
Hours after a deadly overnight shooting took the life of a man on the night of his birthday, residents and business owners in the historic 18th & Vine neighborhood expressed their frustrations with the killing and called upon the city to redevelop the area.
The shooting took the life of Mortez C. Falkner, who had turned 32 on Tuesday, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
Police had responded to the shooting shortly after midnight and found a crime scene just south of 19th and Vine streets. As officers were arriving, they were told that Falkner had been dropped off at a hospital by a private vehicle and that he died at the hospital.
“We’re afraid,” said Sheila Johnson, who lives in the neighborhood and woke up at 12:08 a.m. to the sound of gunfire. Johnson has been fighting for more than a year to get increased public safety in the area.
“In our neighborhood that we once would sit outside at any time of the night on the patio having cocktails with each other chitchatting, we don’t do that anymore,” she said.
Business owners in the area said the killing was a community problem that needs to be addressed not only in their neighborhood, but across the entire metro. They blamed the availability of guns and the lack of regard some people have for others’ lives.
“I’m sad that another person is dead,” said attorney Henry Service, who owns the historic Lincoln Building at the corner of 18th and Vine. “But I’m also sad for the district because what I know is that people are going to come down here and try to tar the district as unsafe. It’s going to hurt all the businesses down here.”
Service, who called the Jazz District one of the safest entertainment districts in the city, said the city needs to accept some of the blame for the crime that occurs there. He said the city has blighted property that it hasn’t developed.
Developing those properties, or allowing others to do so, would help cut crime in the area, Service said.
“If you’re going to commit a crime, you’re not going to do it in front of places where there’s a lot of stuff ... happening and where cameras and people can see you,” he said.
The city did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The neighborhood is a staple in the Black community in Kansas City. It’s home to the American Jazz Museum, the historic Gem Theatre and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Johnson said it was once the heartbeat, too, but “it’s not that way anymore.”
“It can’t be when people’s lives are being lost — senseless shootings and killings,” she said.
The killings in the area make up only a fraction of a city-wide violence issue. There have been 104 homicides in Kansas City this year, following last year’s record of 182.
In April, after the fatal shooting of beloved trainer Gary Taylor, neighbors once again pushed for more gun control in the area and additional funding for security.
Taylor’s killing was the third in the area within 12 months.
“I’ve lived here since 1999 and it has never been like that,” Johnson said. “Yes, we’ve had issues over the years, we definitely have, but not like we had in the last two-and-a-half to three years.”
Joey Thomas, owner of 180V Barber Salon, said the district is “sacred ground” in Kansas City and a global attraction. Over the eight years since he opened the shop on Vine Street, he’s seen customers visiting from China, Australia and Japan.
Thomas lives elsewhere in the district and has grown accustomed to hearing gunshots late at night. He said the latest killing in the area is tragic, offering his condolences to the family.
But all in all, he said he and many others feel safe operating his business there.
“I think it’s fair to say that beyond a doubt the majority of people, especially the business owners that operate down on the Vine, all of us feel safe and protected,” Thomas said, adding: “I think police are doing the best that they can, but they can’t prevent or stop everything.”
The Kansas City Police Department supplies some extra security on weekends, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman, said. There are typically three to four off-duty officers funded by the city and police have worked with the district on a barricade system, he said.
“I just think that 18th & Vine catches a bad rap (and) gets an extremely negative narrative put out against it any time” there is a violent crime, Thomas said.
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.
