KSHB 41 News reporter Lauren Schwentker covers stories in the Northland, including in Clay and Platte counties. Have a story idea? Send her an email.
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A violent weekend across the Kansas City metro area left two men dead, nine people injured, and a community event disrupted by fights, bear spray and a recovered ghost gun.
Two separate shootings rocked the area. Two men were killed in a shooting on Westport Road late Saturday night, and nine adults were struck in a separate shooting early Saturday morning near 79th Street and Troost Avenue.
Rosilyn Temple, a community gun violence activist who runs KC Moms in Charge, says she received a call to assist the families of the Troost shooting.
"We have the right to be safe in our community, and we should be safe. We have to start speaking and living and doing something about it," Temple said.
The concern extended beyond the shootings.
Fights, bear spray and a recovered ghost gun made for a chaotic night at Lee's Summit's Downtown Days event, where several juveniles were detained. A viewer shared a video of the incidents.
Lee's Summit Community Engagement Officer Kelly Johnson addressed questions about whether police were prepared for the incidents.
"This past year, we had done a lot of talking about what we were going to put into place here in Lee's Summit," Johnson said. "We had more enforcement there, drones and security cameras."
She also addressed misinformation circulating online alongside viral videos, saying no officers deployed pepper or bear spray and that no tasers were used.
"I know there is a video circulating about a taser sound our officers do what we consider an 'arc of a taser' where you can just get that sound effect, but no taser was actually deployed at any time," Johnson said.
Temple called on the community to take action rather than scroll past the violence on social media.
"Stop allowing these things to be normal. Stop looking at social media and laughing and sharing and pass it on. Let's get together and do something about it," Temple said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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