KANSAS CITY, Mo.-- Detectives were called to Highway 71 early Monday morning after officers found the driver of a vehicle with a fatal wound.
This isn't only the city's latest homicide, but also the latest act of gun violence on a major Kansas City artery.
It began in mid-August with Janet Harms.
On August 18, Harms was with her husband and 79-year-old mother driving westbound on Interstate 435 between Wornall and Holmes Roads when someone opened fire.
"I could feel my wheel jerk a little bit that's why I thought that I had ran over something," Harms said.
A single round pierced the front door of her SUV.
"If I had been going any other faster it would have hit my mother in the backseat," Harms said.
She filed a police report but hasn't heard about the investigation.
"She [police officer] said that there was basically nothing they could do. That we didn't see anybody, we didn't see a gun, didn't see a person," Harms said.
Two days later, police confirm another car was shot in the same area as Harms.
Then the next day, a woman was injured in a shooting on Southbound Interstate 435 near Eastwood Trafficway.
The victim, Shantea Jones, told 41 Action News she was traveling with her sister and mother after celebrating her birthday.
As they neared Eastwood Trafficway, around 4:40 a.m., her car radio was blaring when someone shot at her car, she said.
According to Jones, the bullets struck a rear door, rear tire and her leg. Jones’ sister applied pressure to the wound as they waited for paramedics.
Detectives took Jones’ car for forensics tests.
KCPD reiterated that the recent shootings and Monday’s murder are not linked to each other. Sgt. Kari Thompson told 41 Action News in an email:
“The recent shootings along the highway are not related to each other. Each has a separate set of circumstances. The shootings on or near the highways have been on both 435 and 71 Highway. We investigate each as its own investigation unless evidence or information leads us to connect them. In the most recent cases, there is no connection."
On Friday, a motorcyclist was wounded on southbound Highway 71 near 85th Street.
A Kansas City Police Department spokesperson told 41 Action News on Monday none of the cases are related.
"It is random but somebody is out there shooting at cars going by," Harms said.
At Monday morning's homicide scene there were several witnesses who are helping police in their investigation. Any additional piece of information can help them.
If you know anything about this latest homicide call police or the KC Crimestoppers Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
Editor's Note: KCPD initially told 41 Action News the shooting on southbound Interstate 435, Eastwood Trafficway occurred on August 23. The victim said it happened on August 19.
