Man told officers he ‘feared for his life’ before shooting in KC neighborhood
A Kansas City man is facing a murder charge after a shooting early Saturday in Kansas City’s Northeast neighborhood left one man dead. He told investigators the victim had a “history of threatening behavior.”
Ryan Hawk, 29, faces one count each of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, tampering with a motor vehicle and two counts of armed criminal action, according to a Jackson County complaint.
Officers with the Kansas City Police Department responded to 3900 block of St. John Avenue just before 2 a.m. on Dec. 27 on reports of a shooting, according to a press release from department spokesperson Sgt. Phillip DiMartino.
There, officers located 54-year-old Luis Cruz suffering from a gunshot wound to the lower back, according to a probable cause statement in support of Hawk’s arrest.
Cruz was transported to an area hospital where he died from his injuries around 3 a.m., according to the probable cause statement.
A witness told officers that he was in his backyard nearby when he heard yelling followed by “multiple” gunshots, the probable cause statement said. The witness went outside the front of the residence, where he saw Cruz.
The witness ran inside and told another resident to call 911, according to the probable cause statement.
A second witness told officers she recognized Cruz as someone who had come to the address on “multiple occasions” after becoming upset with another tenant about a vehicle, according to the probable cause statement.
Cruz allegedly would come to the residence and yell at the house because he knew the person he was looking for lived upstairs, the statement said.
The second witness told officers Cruz previously threw a rock through her window and shot at a vehicle at the residence, court documents said.
Surveillance footage revealed two men standing over Cruz, before one got into the driver’s seat of Cruz’s vehicle and drove away, according to the probable cause statement.
Around 8 p.m. on Dec. 27, detectives were contacted by a witness who said they were at a friend’s apartment with Hawk, according to the probable cause statement. Hawk allegedly said he “just shot and killed someone.”
While at the apartment, Hawk allegedly revealed a handgun, court documents said. The witness told investigators Hawk said he thought Cruz was “going to pull out a weapon so he shot him.”
In an interview with detectives, Hawk said Cruz had “a history of threatening behavior and property damage,” the probable cause statement said. He said he heard screaming, followed by gunshots, before someone advised him to take Cruz’s vehicle and “dispose of it.”
Hawk told investigators Cruz was upset with him because Hawk had scraped his vehicle, according to the probable cause statement. He said Cruz had previously threatened to harm women at the residence, and before the shooting the victim broke a front window at the residence.
After the window was broken, Hawk went to the front door and fired multiple rounds at Cruz, he told detectives. He told officers that “‘In a sense’ he feared for his life.”
There are no court dates set in Hawk’s case. He is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $250,000 cash-only bond, according to a press release from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 4:53 PM.
