KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
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Members of the Citadel Homeowners Association were at the scene of Monday's double homicide at the Charter Landing Apartments.
Neighbors said crime is a frequent occurrence at the complex.
Police were called to the scene just before 3:30 p.m. Monday after multiple people reported hearing gunshots in the area.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said a man was found dead at the scene and a woman was transported to an area hospital. She later succumbed to her injuries.
KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks followed up with the Citadel HOA Tuesday to learn more about the organization's ongoing efforts to prevent such incidents.
“I’ve always felt like my calling was to help,” said Linda Brazton, co-president of the HOA. “I’m a helper. And because I love this community and I want to see it stay the way it is, nice and quiet, that's why I joined the HOA.”
Braxton has lived in the area for over 20 years. She said the typically peaceful, upper-middle-class neighborhood has attracted unwanted activity, particularly near Charter Landing.
“In addition to the shootings, they were also doing like the donuts in the parking lot, they were doing the donuts on Citadel Drive. It was horrible," Braxton said.
The apartments are owned by Infinity Capital Partners, a company out of Atlanta. KSHB spoke with Gregory Jones, the investment bank's chief investment officer, over the phone.
Jones said the company has heavily invested in the property via lighting, cameras and license plate readers. Still, the HOA believes it hasn't done enough.
“Somebody has to be on the ground there, somebody has to be on the ground paying attention, and we just don’t feel like that’s there,” Braxton said.
Braxton said the HOA is more than willing to work with Infinity Capital Partners to address further issues.
“The owner said that they hired security. We don’t know what the company is, we don’t know what the hours are," Braxton said. "They had asked us to support their application from some renovations funds they were trying to get. We did that because we want to work with the management, the owner to make it better there. We’re doing everything we can with the owner to help him get the situation under control because he’s not here, which is part of the problem.”
Police told KSHB 41 that detectives are hopeful surveillance cameras near the scene recorded the incident.