KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- "It's encouraging," said Michele Shanahan DeMoss.
On a 100 degree day, Shanahan DeMoss was out going door-to-door with KCPD, asking people to put down the guns on the 4th of July.
Her daughter, Blair Shanahan Lane, died seven years ago after a stray bullet struck her in the neck as she played on her uncle's farm. She had just lit a sparkler and was celebrating the 4th.
Sgt. Jake Becchina accompanied her, visiting homes near 44th & Prospect.
The bullet that killed Blair traveled 1,000 feet across Riss Lake, as men on the other side at Whispering Lake Apartments were recklessly shooting a gun.
"Blair's death should never have happened, and to be able to educate people of the distance a bullet travels, and encourage them to celebrate in a different way is powerful for me," Shanahan DeMoss said.
Becchina says in the past two years they saw a decrease in gunfire in the 36 hours surrounding the holiday, and no repeat gunfire from the year before in areas where they knocked on doors.
But that's not enough, Becchina says.
"We're just trying to educate people and make sure they know. Most people know that what comes up must come back down," Becchina told one resident.
The day Blair was killed, police say no one called 911 to report gunfire.
Shanahan DeMoss feels like she's making a change.
"The last house we were at, he said he has five daughters. And you know, that's the part that I say is encouraging. People get it. And to have them have the information and know they'll share the information is powerful," Shanahan DeMoss said.
KCPD also rely heavily on their Shotspotter technology, which tracks gunfire within 3.5 square miles of where it's installed. It detects where, when, and even what type of gunfire happens.
