KANSAS CITY, MO — A new task force in Kansas City wants to be sure businesses are operating safely.
The effort to tamp down violent crime comes after two deadly shootings about a month apart on the city's east side.
Three people died and two others injured in an early morning shooting in May at Klymax Lounge at East 43rd Street and Indiana Avenue.
About a month later, three more people died and five were injured by gunfire at East 57th Street and Prospect Avenue outside an auto shop allegedly operating as a bar without a proper license.
The city shut down the business.
Tamika Jenkins, whose daughter Jasity Strong died in the auto shop shooting, said she is living a nightmare without her daughter.
“My daughter got murdered at some place that ain't even legal,” Jenkins said. “Mentally, physically, it’s been a roller coaster ride. I have my bad days and my bad bad days. I haven't had a good day since she's passed.”
Jenkins is glad city officials are trying something new to slow down the number of violent crimes.
“My mindset is, it won't bring my daughter back, but they are doing it," Jenkins said. "I’m glad they are doing it because it’ll prevent it from happening to somebody elses' family."
The task force is something Mario Williams, owner of Klymax Lounge, says is a good first step after the deadly shootings outside his business.
“To have our security and you know have all of our ducks in a row and tax paper work and everything else like that, we did that before we even opened the nightclub,” Williams said.
Now working to make sure his customers and staff are safe, Williams says he hopes this will be a wake up call for other businesses.
“This past months it’s been police presence there,” Williams said. “Our business is still affected because people still got killed at our front door.”
