Man fatally shot early Sunday near Kansas City’s Westport entertainment district
A shooting overnight Sunday left one person dead near Kansas City’s Westport entertainment district, police said.
Just after 3 a.m., officers working off duty in the Wesport area were told by Westport security that gunshots were fired near Broadway Boulevard and Westport Road, Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City Police Department, said in an email.
Officers responded to the call and found a man in the street east of the intersection, Foreman said. He had been shot.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stacey McBride, spokesperson for Westport, told The Star it appeared the shot was fired from Broadway to the east. She said the shooting happened outside the entertainment district, which was at that point closed for the night.
On Friday and Saturday nights between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., anyone coming into Westport’s entertainment district, known on weekend evenings as Westport Live, has to go through a safety scan for weapons.
The shooting happened near one of the five security checkpoints.
Detectives believe that other people were likely in the area when the shots were fired, Foreman said, adding that anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the homicide unit at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
No suspect information was immediately available. The name and age of the homicide victim has not yet been made public.
The latest killing marks the 105th homicide this year in Kansas City, according to data maintained by The Star. By this time last year — the deadliest year on record — the city had suffered 144 homicides.
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 September 12, 2021 at 7:43 AM.
