A teen died and another was seriously injured in a late-night shooting on a Kansas City highway, a police spokesman said.
Police responded to the shooting on Bruce R. Watkins Drive/US 71 northbound highway shortly after 11 p.m. just south of 22nd Street, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department.
When officers arrived, they found the teens in a vehicle that pulled up on the side of the highway, Becchina said. Emergency services took the victims to hospital.
A teenager, a young man, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other teen, an adult male, was in critical condition.
A preliminary investigation found that the victims were on the highway and were hit by gunfire when shots fired at their vehicle from another vehicle, Becchina said.
Detectives and crime scene investigators collected evidence to try to determine what preceded the shooting.
The murder marks Kansas City’s 123rd homicide this year, according to records tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. Last year around this time there were 101 homicides, which ended up being the second deadliest year on record with 171 homicides.
In 2020, 182 lives were lost, the most homicides on record.
Anyone with information regarding the deadly highway shooting is urged to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS Hotline.
