A father from Kansas City, Kansas said he heard the gunshots during one of the homicides and now fears for his children’s lives.
Keith Iglesias was awoken by a terrifying sound early Sunday morning.
“Me and my girlfriend were upstairs, about 3 o’clock in the morning and we started hearing gunshots,” Iglesias said. “It sounded like some of them were hitting the front of the house.”
The father quickly sprang into action.
“I ran downstairs because my kids were sleeping on the couch and I jumped on top of them and kind of took cover,” Iglesias said.
Iglesias and his children were unharmed, but he said their feeling of safety in his home has been compromised.
“My daughter might not even want to come back over. She wanted to leave early yesterday and it’s the first time she’s ever said anything like that,” he said.
The victim of the shooting was 18-year-old Ricardo Ubide.
Two other people were killed just hours before.
Edwin Igo was shot and killed around 1:15 a.m. Saturday in the 4300 block of Lloyd Street.
Just before 7:00 p.m. Saturday, Jaiferia Barnes was shot and killed in the 100 block of Walker Avenue.
Later in the day Sunday, police responded to another shooting. This one happened outside a laundromat on Parallel Parkway. The man killed was Jeffrey Whitmore.
Three more homicides are being investigated across the state line in Kansas City, Missouri.
John Waldon, Darren Harris and Andre Barnes were shot and killed Saturday night. All three men were from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Retired Homicide Detective Sergeant Dave Bernard said police are facing several challenges with these investigations.
“No you can’t do a case justice when you are running around in that many directions with too few people,” Bernard said. “I understand that for one thing the homicide detectives are severely under staffed.”
Bernard investigated homicides in Kansas City for more than 20 years. He says in his experience this is a cycle.
“I believe that the rise and fall of the homicide rate is cyclical. It’s a cycle. It’s a pendulum. It goes up… it comes down.” Bernard said. “I mean it’s good to have ideas about what you can do to attack these problems in Kansas City, but still in my experience it goes up… it goes down.”
Bernard said the key to reducing the number of homicides in this city is starting with the kids.
“If you are looking for a long-term reduction in the violent crime, you’re going to have to turn to those families in the core element of our society and get those children turned around and raised right.” he said.
“It’s got to start with the family. Faith and family values. I don’t think we’re getting a lot of that these days. The streets are what are actually raising the children in the city. They grow up on the streets and that’s the life they learn, which is a violent, violent lifestyle,” Bernard said.
Iglesias said he is trying very hard to raise his kids to understand that violence is unacceptable.
“We want our kids to grow up with the best opportunities possible and not fear for their life,” Iglesias said.
All seven homicides are still under investigation. Police ask anyone with information to call them.
There was also a homicide in Blue Springs in the 1400 block of Southwest 23rd Street. According to neighbors 41 Action News spoke with, a 77-year-old man was killed by his grandson.
There have been 72 homicides in Kansas City, Missouri and 18 in Kansas City, Kansas since the beginning of 2017.
