Person killed in Westport shooting identified as 24-year-old Kansas City man
The Missouri State Highway Patrol has identified a man who died in a shooting involving Kansas City police Sunday night outside a popular Westport bar.
Cardell Crawford, 24, of Kansas City, was killed in the shooting that started around 11 p.m. outside the Ale House restaurant and bar at 4128 Broadway Blvd., according to highway patrol.
The patrol is investigating the shooting, which killed Crawford and injured five others, because it involved Kansas City police officers, said Sgt. Bill Lowe, a highway patrol spokesman.
Lowe said everyone who was injured is in stable condition, but he didn’t know the extent of their injuries. A Westport security guard was one of the people who was wounded, Lowe said.
The gunfire began when a fight that started inside the bar moved outside. Three off-duty Kansas City police officers in uniform who were working security at the bar then exited and shot back.
Police audio at the time of the shooting, obtained from Broadcastify.com, showed Kansas City police made a city-wide call for help at the scene. Police also closed off part of Broadway Boulevard and were told to clear people from the area.
Because of the amount of gunfire from other people it’s still unclear, Lowe said, if the off-duty officers shot anyone.
If it’s determined the officers didn’t hit anyone, the Kansas City Police Department will take over the investigation.
Emily Ivory, a Westport resident who lives across the street from Ale House, said she heard about 15 to 20 gunshots and filmed at least two dozen police cars and helicopters responding to the scene. It’s common in Westport, she said, to hear gunshots, but this time was the largest scene and response that she’s witnessed.
It was just a lot,” she said. “I haven’t seen that many cops ever in my whole life, and it just progressively got more and more. ... My thoughts were just crazy, chaotic, sad. Sad that we have to worry about stuff like that.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was in Washington D.C. Monday to hear from President Joe Biden and celebrate a new federal bipartisan gun reform bill, said he couldn’t stop thinking about the shooting in Westport the night before. He previously told The Star that people take a risk going into any entertainment district in Kansas City or across the nation.
“If everybody’s got a gun, and everybody’s already in a shootout mentality, the tragedies will keep happening, even if officers are just mere feet away,” Lucas said. “The guns are a huge part of the problem.”
Star reporter Cortlynn Stark contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 10:17 AM.
