‘Here we go again.’ KC leaders condemn shooting near 18th & Vine Jazz District
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- Leaders condemned a shooting near 18th & Vine during World Cup matches.
- Officers found two conscious female gunshot victims and one man pronounced dead.
- Officials blamed long neglect, poverty, and easy firearm access for the violence.
Missouri Rep. Michael Johnson was standing along 18th Street when he heard gunshots ring out near Kansas City’s annual Juneteenth celebration Friday night.
“I said, well, here we go again,” said Johnson, a Kansas City Democrat. “A damper on such a great, great, great event.”
Local and state leaders expressed frustration and raised a series of questions after one person was killed and several others were injured in a shooting near Kansas City’s 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District Friday night.
Friday’s shooting came amid a wave of recent violent incidents as Kansas City plays host to World Cup matches. The shootings have placed under a microscope the city’s yearslong struggle with gun violence and Missouri’s lax approach to firearm regulations.
Johnson said that police quickly responded to Friday’s shooting. But he also said he was concerned that the 18th and Vine area has historically received less attention from law enforcement compared to other parts of the city.
Residents who live in the area have for years called for a stronger police presence before and during the annual Juneteenth event.
“I think that there’s just a lack of an effort to put enough police officers on Vine and it’s always been that,” he said. “We’ve never really had community policing, ever, south of the river.”
Kansas City Council member Melissa Patterson Hazley spent most of her day in the district attending openings for new businesses, visiting shows and eating at restaurants. She left when it started to rain around 7 p.m., but said she noticed a change in the crowd as she was leaving.
She said the city has neglected the area for decades, and that poverty, mixed with easy access to firearms and families not intervening when a family member has a firearm, can all lead to situations like the one that occurred on Friday.
“Kansas City is investing billions of dollars in the other parts of the city, and the area we have neglected is getting more and more violent,” Patterson Hazley, who represents the city’s 3rd District, said. “We have created an environment in which people are stressed out, and they have access to firearms in a stressful environment.”
At the scene, officers found two women with gunshot wounds who were conscious and alert, and one man who was unresponsive, a Kansas City Police Department spokesperson said. Paramedics responded and pronounced the man dead at the scene. Officers also learned of three additional shooting victims, one woman and two men, who arrived at a hospital via a private vehicle.
U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver was at 18th and Vine earlier in the day. The Kansas City Democrat has placed an emphasis on the district in Congress, and helped funnel federal money for revitalization projects.
“When we left, people were out in the streets laughing, and we were as well, stopping taking photographs, and we want people to feel like they can do that in Kansas safely,” Cleaver said. “But the way it’s going now, it’s not healthy or wholesome for anybody in the city.”
Cleaver said he’s going to reach out to city leaders to try and address violence that has occurred in entertainment districts. A high profile shooting in an unlicensed nightclub and teenagers engaging in violence in downtown Lee’s Summit have also occurred as the World Cup brings more visibility to Kansas City.
“We are a city on the move, getting a lot of attention right now, doing a lot of things, and this is just not something that we should tolerate and I’m sick,” Cleaver said. “We’ve got to take some action, and they need to be strong actions, or we are wasting millions of dollars.”
State Sen. Barbara Washington, in a statement, pointed to the intense focus on Kansas City as the city hosts fans from across the globe for the World Cup.
“At a time when Kansas City is on the world stage it’s unfortunate some have chosen to dim that light with violence,” said Washington, a Kansas City Democrat. “During these times of celebration it is incumbent on the entire community, police included, to keep everyone safe and free from harm.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 11:58 AM.
