According to the Kansas City Star, the shooting happened around 9 p.m. at 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard on the East Side. It began shortly after an officer radioed a request for assistance at that location, said Sgt. Andy Bell, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Officers responding to the call for assistance saw one officer and five people near a white van, Bell said. It immediately appeared to them that three of the van’s occupants had been shot.
One, described as a Black male, was critically wounded and pronounced dead on the scene, Bell said, adding that a white female was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and died there.
He noted that a third suffered injuries described as minor and two others were detained.
He added that the patrol’s investigators were still working to determine whether anyone else other than the officer fired a gun.
The fatal shooting marked the 83rd and 84th homicides in Kansas City so far this year, which includes police shootings in its annual tally. Last year, the city saw 172 homicides — the second-highest number on record.
AMK/PR