KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, police arrested a suspect in a fatal shooting that happened on the streets of Westport at the start of the Memorial Day weekend.
30-year-old Marquis Ponder is facing charges related to the homicide, according to the police department.
Two men got into an argument outside a smoke shop Friday afternoon on Broadway Boulevard. The argument ended in gunfire, adding another homicide to this year's count in Kansas City.
Police identified the victim as 30-year-old Levon Quinn.
There have been 63 homicides in the first five months of 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.
"This is Westport, this is a very busy area," KCPD Public Information Officer Alayna Gonzalez said on Friday after the shooting. "It's very heavily traveled, there's a lot of surveillance footage."
That surveillance video has been going around on social media sites.
It shows a man, believed to be the 30-year-old Quinn, leaving a business, Dr. Smoke.
He got into an argument with another man. Quinn turned away to leave when the other man pulled out a gun and shot the victim.
The suspect in the video, believed to be Ponder, ran away as the victim got into his car.
Police say Quinn attempted to drive to the hospital, but he crashed into a motorcyclist along Mill Creek Parkway.
He died by the time officers got to him. The motorcyclist was reported to be okay.
"I do find it interesting that somebody would think an area that is as busy and heavily populated as [Westport] would think that an argument escalating into gunfire would even be worth a Friday evening," Officer Gonzalez said.
Police arrested 30-year-old Ponder later Friday night, charging him in connection with the homicide.
The metro saw shootings on Saturday and Sunday, too. An argument on Troost and 56th on Saturday evening ended with one man dead and two people hospitalized. A shooting in the Crossroads on Sunday morning left one person with life-threatening injuries.
"Arguing and escalating to gun violence is completely unnecessary," Officer Gonzalez said. "We have to do better."
This weekend's violence comes as KCPD is working to crackdown on crime, including illegal street racing and sideshows, in entertainment districts.
The department stated they issued 35 citations, six custodial arrests and towed six vehicles in entertainment districts like the Crossroads and Westport over Memorial Day weekend.
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