Two children were killed and one teenager was injured after a shooting inside a house in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police said 8-year-old Montell Ross and 9-year-old Jayden Ugwuh were fatally shot at a house near 57th and College early Saturday morning. A 16-year-old girl suffered non-life threatening injuries and is expected to recover.
The two boys shot and killed over the weekend were cousins and classmates at Hogan Prep Elementary. @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/I6kCsBiAFz
— LisaBenson (@lisabensonkshb) August 15, 2016
Catherine Hill recalled hearing gunfire behind her home overnight but had no idea that two children had been killed.
"I heard the gunfire. It sounded like two different guns." said Hill. "This is sad. It's sad that theses kids die young."
Officers were called to the residence around 2 a.m. after shots were fired into the home. Upon arrival, authorities located three juvenile victims with apparent gunshot wounds. They were all transported to a local hospital.
The two young boys were pronounced dead at the hospital.
The aunt of the two boys, Nicole Hayes, heard the news early this morning and says she prayed it was not one of her family members.
"I was like I hope it wasn't nobody in my family and then when I got the call I was like, I just started crying," said Hayes.
She says the two boys killed are cousins, along with the teenager who was shot. She says the mothers of the two killed are devastated.
Neighbors say they too are devastated to hear the news children were killed in gunfire.
"You know I am a mother, I got nieces, I got nephews and it's sad my heart is hurting like so bad because our kids are dying," said Tywana Jacobs.
"Especially if you have kids of your own, it affects all of us when we hear about our babies being shot," said Lindi Johnson.
Victims went to Hogan Prep Academy
Both Montell and Jayden went to Hogan Prep Academy and started school last week.
On Monday morning, grief counselors were sent to school to inform students of the boys' deaths and help classmates deal with their grief.
Denny Tipton is the superintendent of Hogan Prep Academy. He said the two boys were in 3rd grade and 4th grade. He described them as great students.
"They started with us in kindergarten and 1st grade, so they have cousins and siblings in all of our other buildings and our high school and middle school," said Tipton.
We reached out to the families of both boys. Both declined interviews.
Kansas City police have not made any arrests in the case.
There is no suspect information at this time. Anyone with information is urged to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
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