KANSAS CITY, Mo. — According to KCPD data from ShotSpotter, the amount of celebratory gunfire across the city is on the rise. A Kansas City couple has now dealt with two instances of this since moving into their new house on Lawndale Avenue a year ago.
Yunna and Jessie Powell say the first instance happened on New Year’s. They were sitting on their dining room table eating dinner when they heard multiple gunshots at midnight.
“I think I said, ‘Was that a bullet?’ cause it was right there near our dishwasher," Yunna Powell said. "And so we just kept eating, and then we heard it again. I got on the floor, called 911, and that's when the cops came.”
Officers could not find any evidence that night because it was too dark. But the following morning, Jessie Powell went outside to let the dog out and found several bullet holes on the back of their house.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but the property damage is costing them undue burden. They have decided to patch the holes up themselves to avoid raising their insurance rates.
“If the deck wasn’t there, it probably would have came inside the house, you know,” Jessie Powell said.
The couple says most of their neighbors are older, retired couples and crime never happens there, so they are confused about where the shots are coming from and who is setting them off.
“For the bullet to come near the dishwasher, it doesn’t appear to me that they are shooting up in the air,” Yunna Powell said. “I don’t think this is a bad neighborhood, I just think that the instances where people are being reckless with their gun and celebrating haphazardly, that’s the issue.”
To make matters worse, it happened again last Sunday night.
“I actually had planned after the Buffalo Bills game to go to the grocery store. And then he said, ‘If they win, they’re gonna be shooting.’ I said, 'Okay, then I’m not going.' And literally after they won, we heard gunshots,” said Yunna Powell.
According to KCPD, there were 100 registered rounds on ShotSpotter between 8:30pm and 9:30pm. Majority of the shorts were fired shortly after the Chiefs secured their spot in the AFC Championship.
“My concern is, what if my six year old grandson is here? And we really plan to entertain outside on the deck. What happens if they just decide to shoot and we’re entertaining outside on the deck, what happens then? And somebody gets shot,” said Yunna Powell.
As big Chiefs fans, they are excited the team is doing well this season, but every weekend brings concerns. They believe lawmakers need to enact stricter penalties around celebratory gunfire.
“I think that if you crack down, maybe people would stop doing that, because that’s just reckless,” said Yunna Powell. “People just have this mentality where they can do whatever they wanna do.”
