Teen killed, another critically injured in highway shooting in Kansas City
A teen died and another was critically injured in a late-night shooting on a Kansas City highway, a police spokesman said.
Police responded to the shooting shortly after 11 p.m. on northbound Bruce R. Watkins Drive/U.S. 71 highway just south of 22nd Street, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
Arriving officers found the teens inside a vehicle stopped on the side of the highway, Becchina said. Emergency medical workers took the victims to a hospital.
One teen, a juvenile male, was declared dead at the hospital. The other teen, an adult male, was in critical condition.
A preliminary investigation found that the victims were on the highway and were struck by gunfire when shots were fired into their vehicle from another vehicle, Becchina said.
Detectives and crime scene investigators collected evidence to try to determine what led up to the shooting.
The killing the 123rd homicide in Kansas City this year, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. There were 101 killings by this time last year, which ended as the second-deadliest year on record with 171 killings.
In 2020, 182 lives were lost, the most homicides ever recorded.
Anyone with information about the fatal highway shooting is asked to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS Hotline.
