KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A young father is dead after a shooting early Thursday morning. KCK police say the shooting happened in front of a home near 33rd and Delavan.
“We were all asleep and then we heard all those bullets and I rolled out of bed and my daughters and grandkids all hit the floor. Yes, we were scared for our lives, ” said Aireka Thomas as she wiped away tears.
“I’m just so tired of all the violence in the streets. These young people are just killing each other, destroying their lives and hurting their families. It’s very hurtful,” added a frustrated Thomas.
Thomas told police just after four Thursday morning at least 10 bullets hit her house as a hail of gunfire ripped across the air.
“My granddaughter was on the couch in our living room and one bullet just barely missed hitting her, and, another bullet would’ve hit my daughter had she stood up or moved in another direction,” she said.
Cops say a gunman, in a dark vehicle, first circled the neighborhood near Delevan and North 33rd Street, and moments later drove back down he street, spotted 22-year-old Brandon Morris and then fired several rounds at Morris and a friend.
“The next thing I heard banging at my front door and my daughter opened the door and saw them both on our front porch. Before she could let them inside the house, somebody drove by and kept on firing,” said Thomas.
Police say Morris returned fire, and amid all the gunfire, the young father got shot. Morris, who relatives say worked at a Wyandotte County factory, later died at the hospital.
Bullets also shattered the window on Thomas’ next door neighbor’s sports utility vehicle and hit two other houses, one of which is vacant. Nobody else was hurt.
Hours after the deadly drive-by shooting, crime scene technicians and detectives returned to the neighborhood looking for possible clues, talking to people who live in the area and searching for an exact motive for the deadly shooting.
“Brandon may have had some past issues as a teenager. I’m not sure, but I do know in the last two years he tried to be a father to his child and go to work. Now, my grandson will grow up without his father. I feel so sorry for Brandon’s family too,” said Thomas.
“I just want the police to catch whoever did this. This is all so ridiculous and unnecessary,” said Tyran Burton. Burton’s daughter is the mother of Brandon Morris’ two-year-old son.
“Oh, man this is a lot for us all to deal with. I just got to be strong for my grandson and daughter right now, ” said Burton.
Meantime, as police continue searching for Morris’ killer, Thomas, who was planning on moving out of the neighborhood next week, now more than ever, wants a new place to call home.
“I just want to get a fresh start so my family and I can be totally safe and not worry,” she said.
Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474- TIPS.
