KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City police are ready to put this month behind them. Despite their best efforts to curb the violence, January 2013 will go down as the deadliest in recent Kansas City history.
There were three more homicides on Wednesday, for a total of 15 homicides this month. Around 12:30 Wednesday afternoon, two men were shot to death at a recording studio at 81st and Hickman Mills Road. Police have not released their names and have not yet made any arrests.
Four hours later, a woman was killed in what police are calling an act of road rage.
Investigators said she was driving on Emmanuel Cleaver Boulevard near Elmwood when another woman became angry, pulled up beside her and fired shots into her car.
The victim died almost instantly.
That marks seven homicides in the past seven days, and community leaders say it has to stop.
“There’s a lot of hopelessness,” said Tony Caldwell with Stop the Killing Coalition. “They are so angry right now. We have to change that around. We have to find ways to show them that they can respect each other, that they can coexist with each other.”
The violence is happening as Kansas City police officers put in extra effort to get criminals off the streets. On Tuesday, the No Violence Alliance conducted Operation Clean Sweep. Officers raided the homes of some of Kansas City’s worst criminals and arrested 17 people, including several homicide suspects. Similar efforts in Boston and Cincinnati reduced violent crime by 30 percent, but as of right now, results in Kansas City are dismal.
“People are tired, they are fed up,” said KCPD Community Outreach Specialist Pat Clarke. “They are wanting to see something different. I have to remind people, the police department, they are only referees in this. you can only stop what you can stop.”
Police said all but one of the homicides this month involved gun violence, and many of them are still unsolved. If you have any information on any Kansas City homicide, call TIPS at 816-474-TIPS or text 274 637 and include the code TIP452 in the message. All calls and texts remain anonymous.
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