Photo: ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office reported that Three people were killed and at least five wounded in a shooting that erupted early Sunday morning in a parking lot in Kansas City, Missouri.
The shooting happened around 4:30 a.m. southeast of downtown Kansas City, Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte tweeted Sunday morning.
Forte said officers were called to investigate a report of gunshots and found three victims, two men and one womandead in the parking lot and on a street just south of the intersection of 57th Street and Prospect Avenue.
“Preliminary information indicates that there was a large gathering of people in a parking lot at the intersection when the victims were shot,” Kansas City Police Department spokesman Jake Becchina said in an email to NBC.
An initial police investigation indicates that the meeting took place outside a car mechanic shopKSHB-TV reported.
No arrests were immediately announced and the motive for the shooting is under investigation.
Five other people were taken to hospitals by ambulance or private vehicles.all with what are believed to be non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, Forte said.
Detectives and investigators were interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence at the crime scene.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting.
The triple homicide came amid a 28% increase in homicides in Kansas City this year, according to Kansas City Police Department crime statistics cited by ABC News.
Before this weekend, Kansas City police had investigated 91 homicides this year, 20 more than in the same period last year, according to the statistics.
My condolences to the families of three people killed in a shooting this morning at an apparent after-hours gathering near 57 and Prospect.
If the business knew persons would be present, without security, selling alcohol, and thwarting our laws, that business should be closed.
— Major Q (@QuintonLucasKC) June 25, 2023
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucus posted a message on Twitter Sunday, expressing condolences to the families of those killed and questioning why a crowd gathered in a parking lot at the time of the shooting.
Lucus said that a total of 13 people were shot in Kansas City overnight, including one person killed at a short-term vacation rental.
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