KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, police say issues that have historically plagued the city played a role in three homicides on Sunday.
Three people were killed within six hours of each other, bringing the 2021 homicide count for KCMO to 23. Last year at this time, 26 people had been killed.
KCPD Capt. David Jackson said the three scenes were not related in any way, but did all stem from problems with conflict resolution.
Jackson said one homicide was related to narcotics, one to mental health issues and one to domestic violence.
“Although yesterday was tragic, we do think it highlights some of the challenges we’re seeing in our city,” Jackson said.
He noted the “ongoing lack of conflict resolution” and people’s continued tendency to turn to physical violence to solve problems rather than employ deescalation tactics.
“When these underlying issues come to a level of conflict, what we see over and over … is really poor conflict resolution skills,” Jackson said.
He encouraged people to access the resources they need before it gets to the point they need to call 911.
Jackson said though calling 911 is the most efficient way to get help, it’s often not the most effective because KCPD officers aren’t mental health experts, social workers or substance abuse counselors.
Officers can try to be these things, Jackson said, but it results in the department being spread very thin and people ultimately not getting the help they need.
“We have kind of become a clearing house for all these things that we are willing to do. It’s just difficult for us to do all of them well,” Jackson said.
He urged people to seek help and get out of dangerous situations before they reach the point that officers need to be involved.
“We want you to get out today before it gets to something so dangerous you need to call 911,” Jackson said.
Jackson noted KCPD’s partnerships with domestic violence shelters and advocacy groups and said people can call 911 to get connected to those.
As far as solving the crimes goes, Jackson said the level of cooperation with police continues to be an issue.
In two of the three homicides from Sunday, those involved are working with police and persons of interest have already been identified.
In the third, however, people who were at the scene are not cooperating with police and they have no person of interest.
The first homicide happened some time before 4 a.m. Police were called to 12th Street and Grand Boulevard, where they found one person dead and another injured.
The second happened on Northwest Harlem Road just after 5:30 a.m. Officers arrived to find one person with life-threatening injuries who later was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Another person was killed near East Armour Boulevard and Gilliam Road just before 10 a.m. KCPD found a man dead at an apartment building.
Jackson said none of the victims' names were ready to be released as investigators worked to find clarification on some identities and notify the families.
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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.
