2 dead, 1 injured in Kansas City police shooting Friday night at 31st and Van Brunt
Three people were shot, two fatally, during an encounter with a Kansas City police officer on Friday night the details of which were largely unclear.
The shooting happened around 9 p.m. near a McDonald’s restaurant at 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard on the East Side. It began shortly after an officer radioed a request for assistance at that location, said Sgt. Andy Bell, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Officers responding to the call for assistance saw one officer and five people near a white van, Bell said. It immediately appeared to them that three of the van’s occupants had been shot.
One, described as a Black male, was critically wounded and pronounced dead on scene, Bell said. A white female was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and died there.
A third suffered injuries described as minor. Two others were detained. No officers were injured.
A firearm was found at the scene, Bell said, though it was “too early” to say where exactly the weapon was located. He added that the patrol’s investigators were still working to determine whether anyone else other than the officer fired a gun.
The events before the officer’s initial call for assistance, including how the officer first encountered the people in the van, were also unknown, Bell said.
The officer had yet to be interviewed, Bell said, and investigators had yet to review any of the police-owned or private surveillance footage.
Next-of-kin notifications had yet to be made for the two people killed Friday night. Further details of those shot, including their ages, were not immediately known, Bell said.
“There’s not a lot of information we can share,” Bell said, adding: “It’s very, very early in the investigation.”
The fatal shooting marked the 83rd and 84th homicides in Kansas City so far this year, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes police shootings in its annual tally. Last year, the city saw 172 homicides — the second-highest number on record.
Shootings by Kansas City police officers are investigated by the Highway Patrol as part of an agreement with the agency for outside reviews of deadly uses of force. The practice began in 2020.
Once their investigation is complete, the agency will forward its findings to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office to determine whether the shooting was lawful.
This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 10:19 PM.
