Man dies in surgery after being shot during argument on Kansas City’s Independence Avenue
A 22-year-old man died at a hospital during surgery Friday morning after he was shot following an argument with someone he knew, a Kansas City police spokeswoman said.
Officers responded to a Kansas City hospital about 3:45 a.m. Friday after a gunshot victim had been dropped off, said Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department.
Hospital staff told police that the victim, who has been identified as Mihail Martinez-Aguilar, was suffering critical, life-threatening injuries, Gonzalez said.
Detectives from the assault squad were notified and located a crime scene near a convenience store in the 4800 block of Independence Avenue, which is the border for the South Indian Mound and Lykins neighborhoods.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Martinez-Aguilar had gotten into an argument with someone he knew prior to the shooting.
Just after 6 a.m., the hospital notified detectives that Martinez-Aguilar had died during surgery.
Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators were notified and were working to gather evidence and find witnesses. No one has been arrested in the homicide.
The killing is Kansas City’s 159th homicide of 2023, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. There were 150 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 in Kansas City. There were 161 killings by this time in 2020.
Anyone with information about the city’s latest homicide is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS Hotline.
