KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas City, Kansas, police chief is making a plea for the community to step up as the search continues for the individuals involved in a rolling gun battle that killed an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
Over the last decade, Lillian Jackson would spend most of her free time volunteering at the Mount Zion Baptist Church at 417 Richmond Avenue.
"If we needed any kind of support, she'd most of the time would be one of the first persons who would come to your rescue," Reverend C. L. Bachus at Mt. Zion Baptist Church told KSHB 41 News.
On Sept. 18, Bachus says Jackson left the church that afternoon just before 4 p.m.
She took her usual route home, going north on Richmond Avenue to North 3rd Street to get to Interstate 70.
But that Saturday afternoon when she was about to make a right turn on North 3rd Street, bullets from a rolling gun battle blew through.
"Three of them just hit the car, one of them on the side of her head. And she passed right there on the spot," Bachus said.
The pastor adds Jackson was on the phone with her daughter at the time.
"She heard the shots and heard her mama take a last breath," Bachus said.
On Thursday, KCKPD Chief Karl Oakman held a press conference at the corner where the shooting occurred asking for help from the public.
"This was a situation that could have happened to any of us," Oakman said.
Almost two weeks later, police don't have a single lead or tip in Jackson's case.
"If you heard it, you looked out the window and you saw what you thought might have been in the car. Just let us know," Oakman said.
Bachus shared a plea to help bring Jackson's family some peace.
"You don't need persons like that — no need to be running loose in the community. They need to be where they’re supposed to be, and that's locked up," Bachus said.
On Saturday at 11 a.m., the church will hold Jackson's funeral to celebrate her life and to pray that someone turns the shooters in.
Anyone with information regarding this shooting can submit an anonymous tip to the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or online at KCcrimestoppers.com.
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For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.
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.
