11 killed in Kansas City metro last week, including middle schooler. Here’s what we know
Eleven people were killed in the past week across the Kansas City region, including a middle schooler who was stabbed to death. All but two of the killings occurred in Kansas City.
So far this year, the metro has suffered 75 homicides, including 46 in Kansas City, according to data tracked by The Star.
Last year, Kansas City saw its second-deadliest year on record, with 157 killings. In 2020, 182 people were slain, making it the worst year on record.
Homicides have generally risen over the past 20 years as community leaders grapple with solutions. Since 2000, Kansas City has recorded only five years that did not exceed 100 lives lost.
“We can’t keep having violence like this, let it be episodic in some ways, like we saw yesterday, and then just move on like it didn’t happen,” Lucas said Tuesday, following four homicides reported within 24 hours in Kansas City. He is looking for ways to use federal funds for violence prevention.
Here is a timeline of the violence over the past week across the metro area.
Homicides
The week started off with five killings in less than 24 hours across the Kansas City metro.
Manuel Guzman was found stabbed inside a bathroom at Northeast Middle School just after 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Guzman, who was 14, was taken to the hospital where he died a few hours later. Another male student was charged with first-degree murder in Jackson County Juvenile Court.
Later that day, Ashley Speer, 38, was found shot on the side of the road.
Officers found Speer at about 4 p.m. near the intersection of 12th Street and Hardesty Avenue, where she was declared dead.
A couple hours later, police responded to a shooting at about 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a Family Dollar near 39th Street and Indiana Avenue.
There, officers found 44-year-old Alfred Brown suffering from gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. He died less than an hour after arriving at the hospital.
At 10:30 p.m., across the river in Kansas City, Kansas, police responded to a shooting in the 3700 block of Plaza Drive. They transported Lisa McKeehan, 35, who was found suffering from gunshot wounds, to the hospital where she later died.
The next day, on Wednesday, 36-year-old Keith Gorham was one of three shooting victims discovered by police at about 3:15 a.m. in the area of East 38th Street and Wabash Avenue.
While the other two victims lived, Gorham did not. Police determined the gunfire came from a nearby home where a house party was taking place.
At about 11 a.m. Thursday in Independence, shots were fired in the area of the 13800 block of East 35th Street South. Arriving officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound inside a car in the Cargo Largo parking lot.
Another man found with the victim told police that the shooting occurred at an apartment complex across the street.
On Friday afternoon, at about 5 p.m., officers found a man suffering from gunshot wounds near the 3800 block of East Gregory. The victim, who has not yet been publicly identified, was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he was later pronounced dead.
Two hours later, police were called to the 1500 block of Campbell Street. When they arrived, they found a man suffering from unknown injuries. The victim was taken to the hospital where he died. His death was ruled a homicide on Saturday.
Three people died from gunshot wounds they sustained on Saturday.
The first shooting happened when gunshots were fired at about 3:15 a.m. in the 8600 block of Newton Avenue. A man was found there, suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. One person of interest was taken into custody.
Then, officers were called just after 10:30pm to the 7900 block of Longview Road on a reported shooting. There, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds inside a home. He died at the hospital a short time later.
About 15 minutes earlier, officers were called at about 10:15 p.m. Saturday to a shooting in the 4300 block of Hardesty Avenue. There they found a man inside a home suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. The man was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. He died the next morning.
