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Kansas City Shooting Leaves 2 Dead and at Least 15 Wounded Kansas City Shooting Leaves 2 Dead and at Least 15 Wounded
(about 5 hours later)
A man opened fire at people outside a Kansas City, Mo., nightclub late on Sunday, killing a woman and wounding 15 people before he was shot dead, apparently by a security guard, the Kansas City Police Department and the city’s mayor said on Monday.
The shooting took place shortly after the city had witnessed the victory of the Kansas City Chiefs, earning the team a spot in the Super Bowl. Bars were packed and Arrowhead Stadium was full of fans, among them Mayor Quinton Lucas. In an interview on Monday, he said the police had been gearing up to respond to typical postgame celebrations, such as public drinking, when the attack occurred just over four miles from the stadium. It was supposed to be a night of celebration and local pride in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs had just clinched a spot in the Super Bowl, its first in a half century. Arrowhead Stadium had been full of fans, and local bars were packed.
“It was a surprise to many of us because we expected most to be celebrating peacefully,” he said. “Certainly not something that was a mass shooting.” But late Sunday night, the city found itself confronting yet another episode of what the mayor called an epidemic of gun violence.
The Kansas City Police Department said officers were called to the bar, the 9ine Ultra Lounge, near Noland Road and U.S. Highway 40, at about 11:30 p.m. local time. When officers arrived, they found a man and a woman who had been fatally shot. One woman was killed and at least 15 people were injured when a gunman opened fire outside a club that was hosting a football-themed party. The attacker was fatally shot by an armed security guard, the Kansas City Police Department said.
“They found quite a chaotic scene,” said Capt. David Jackson, a police spokesman, in remarks published by the Kansas City Star. “It appears that a security guard who was working at the property stopped the shooter,” he said. “Last night was a night that a lot of people had been dreaming of in Kansas City for 50 years,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said at a news conference on Monday. “This is very disappointing for us. It’s heartbreaking.”
At least 15 people turned up at local hospitals saying that they had been injured in the attack, the police department said on Twitter. As of early Monday morning, three of them were in critical condition, it said. The police chief, Richard Smith, said that officers were called to the bar, the 9ine Ultra Lounge, near Noland Road and U.S. Highway 40, at about 11:30 p.m. local time. The suspect, identified as Jahron Swift, 29, of Kansas City, had opened fire outside the club as people waited to enter, Chief Smith said.
People had been waiting in line to get into the bar when the attacker struck, the police said. The woman killed was identified as Raeven A. Parks, 25, also of Kansas City. It was not clear whether it was a targeted attack. The police said that only the suspect and the security guard, whose name was not released, had fired during the exchange.
It was not immediately clear whether the victims knew their attacker, and the police were still investigating a motive. The police have not released the identities of the people killed. “It appears that he saved lives,” Chief Smith said of the guard.
“It appears to have been a person with a high-capacity weapon who just took aim at a crowd of people,” Mr. Lucas said, but he declined to provide further details about the type of gun. He added that responding officers encountered a chaotic situation, with hundreds of people fleeing in cars and on foot. Multiple firearms were recovered at the scene, he said. The police did not specify the weapons’ models.
“It was an individual who was not in the establishment before, and who was sitting outside. Beyond that, I don’t know if he was planning to enter, or if he was lying in wait, or if there was a particular victim in line,” he said. “It was a very intense scene, to say the least,” he said.
“Trying to spray a crowd suggests this might be a person looking to maximize harm in a short amount of time, and did so,” Mr. Lucas said. At least 15 people turned up at local hospitals saying that they had been injured in the attack, Chief Smith said. The Police Department had previously said on Twitter that three of those people were in critical condition.
He said the security guard’s intervention likely prevented more people from being killed or harmed. “The challenge that we have in our state, our city and our country is there are a lot of people walking around with firearms,” Mr. Lucas said. “I am glad that someone was able to intervene.”
The club is near U.S. Highway 40, a major east-west highway that runs through Missouri and at least 11 other states.
Mr. Lucas had said previously that the gunman was not believed to have been inside the club before the shooting. At the news conference, he said that city officials were grappling with how to stop gun violence and called for people with information about the shooting to come forward.
He also said that city officials would consider whether the club’s license should be revoked. Chief Smith said that a drive-by shooting had recently taken place outside the club and that the police had received reports of other disturbances there. The club did not immediately respond to a voice mail message on Monday.
The club is near U.S. Highway 40, a major east-west route that runs through Missouri and at least 11 other states.
After their victory against the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs will now face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 in Miami Gardens, Fla.After their victory against the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs will now face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Jean Peters Baker, the Jackson County prosecutor, said in a telephone interview on Monday that it appeared that the gunman acted alone.Jean Peters Baker, the Jackson County prosecutor, said in a telephone interview on Monday that it appeared that the gunman acted alone.
Before the shooting, “spirits were pretty lifted” throughout the city in anticipation of the game, which people were watching at the stadium and at bars, she said.
The nightclub’s Facebook page advertised an event for Sunday night’s game, with a photograph of the Chiefs’ quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Doors opened at 10 p.m. People wrote in with questions about specials and the cover charge.The nightclub’s Facebook page advertised an event for Sunday night’s game, with a photograph of the Chiefs’ quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Doors opened at 10 p.m. People wrote in with questions about specials and the cover charge.
But by Monday morning, at least one comment stood out: “Sorry to hear about the shootings.”But by Monday morning, at least one comment stood out: “Sorry to hear about the shootings.”