Police find 2 juveniles, 1 man shot to death in burning Kansas City home
Update: The deceased have been identified as Zachary Hatcher, 38; Jeffery Hatcher, 8; and Charlotte Hatcher, 6.
A man and two juveniles were found dead inside a burning home in northern Kansas City Thursday night.
Officers responded just before 9:45 p.m. to the 1000 block of Northwest 91st Terrace on a welfare service call. Checking the exterior of the residence, they smelled smoke and saw smoke inside the home, said Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a spokesman with the Kansas City Police Department, in an email.
The Kansas City Fire Department responded at the request of KCPD, DiMartino said, and extinguished a fire inside the home.
When officers went back inside, they found a juvenile female with a gunshot wound. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Officers also found a juvenile male and adult male inside with gunshot wounds. The juvenile was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
The deaths are being investigated as a homicide, DiMartino said. As of Friday morning, detectives are not actively looking for any suspects, he said.
Police have not yet publicly identified the victims. No other information about how the victims died was immediately available.
Investigators are working to determine what led up to the deaths. The scene is being processed for evidence and detectives are canvassing for witnesses.
The killing is Kansas City’s fourth, fifth and sixth homicides of 2025, according to data maintained by The Star. At this time last year, the city had recorded one homicide.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-8477. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS hotline.
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 7:40 AM.
