KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A fatal shooting in northeast Kansas City, Missouri, Friday night marks the city's 180th homicide of the year and makes 2023 the city's deadliest year on record, according to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
One adult male was killed in the shooting, according to KCPD spokesperson Jake Becchina. Investigators are working to identify the victim.
Officers dispatched around 7:30 p.m. to the 5200 block of Lyon Avenue on a reported shooting. Upon arrival, officers located the victim — later identified as 31-year-old Gerardo Acuna — unresponsive in the street outside of a vehicle.
EMS arrived shortly after officers and provided aid to Acuna, but he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Those who called police reportedly heard gunshots, looked outside and saw Acuna on the ground in the street, according to Becchina.
“This is one of 180 this year," Becchina said at the scene. "One is too many and 180 is absurd, I don’t know what other word to use for that.”
Becchina's interview at the scene with reporters Friday night was interrupted by the sound of gunfire in the distance.
Detectives went door to door on the block Friday night, looking for evidence and witnesses.
“I heard some gunshots from a heavy gun, like, 'Boosh boosh boosh!' And then, that’s when I heard the sirens coming down here, the fire truck," said a neighbor, Del'Shawna Jones.
Jones, who lives on the other end of the block, said she moved to the neighborhood three months ago after experiencing gun violence at her apartment complex at East 43rd Street and The Paseo.
She was worried on Friday night that bullets would fly through her walls once again.
"The house before that, it was shooting. I thought they were shooting at my porch —I'm in the house doing the little, you know, the army crawl," said Jones.
With three young kids, conversations around safety and respect for life have already started in her household.
“My daddy always taught me, it’s not where you live, it’s how you live. So, I just try to keep to myself — just me and my kids over here in our own little bubble," said Jones.
A couple houses down, Barbara Steffens is also making sense of the the record-breaking homicide. She says there's been a spike in non-violent crimes here lately, but nothing like this.
“That was really, really sad to hear that. In my neighborhood? I lived here 41 years," said Steffens.
Crime scene investigators are processing the scene and trying to find out what led up to the shooting.
There is currently no suspect information.
Prior to this year's 180th homicide in KCMO, 2020 was the city's deadliest year on record with 179 homicides, according to KCPD.
This story will be updated as information becomes available.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
