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KCK man accused of killing 2 unarmed victims in West Bottoms shooting

Posted at 10:13 PM, Nov 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-07 15:51:14-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Kansas, man is accused of killing two people and wounding another in a shooting early Friday at a Kansas City, Missouri, gas station.

Juan Carlos Berumen, 27, is charged in Jackson County with two counts of second-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, assault and unlawful use of a firearm.

The gunfire erupted just after midnight at the Phillips 66 gas station in the 1500 block of West 12th Street in the city's West Bottoms neighborhood.

KCPD officers arriving at the scene found Floyd Freeman Jr., 43, of KCK dead in the gas station parking lot, according to a court document.

Officers found out several other people fled from the scene and drove to a hospital for help.

The second homicide victim, Margarita Paez, 37, of KCK later died at a hospital. She went to the gas station in a vehicle with Berumen, according to a probable cause statement

Freeman and Paez were not armed.

According to charging documents, Beurmen got out of his car, pulled a gun from his waistband and waved it at a group men at another gas pump.

An argument broke out and Beurmen opened fire, striking Freeman, Paez and another man.

The men at the gas pump got into an SUV and shot at Berumen as they sped off.

Berumen suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in the exchange.

KCPD investigators found 22 spent shell casings from a 9mm handgun and three spent shell casings from a .40-caliber handgun at the gas station, court documents said.

Berumen's bond has been set at $500,000, and is cash-only.

Editor's note: The original version of this story had Paez's age wrong. She was 37.

For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the 41 Action News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the 41 Action News Mug Shot Policy.