Vehicle catches fire following deadly Kansas City shooting
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KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV/KSMO) — Police found a man dead in a car near U.S. Highway 71 on Thursday morning.
Officers were called just before 12:15 a.m. to the southbound on ramp at 75th Street on a reported shooting.
When they arrived on scene, they found a vehicle that was on fire. They then located a man suffering from gunshot wounds inside the vehicle.
Officers attempted to render aid to the victim until paramedics arrived on scene and took the victim to hospital where later died. His name has not been released at this time.
This marks the city’s 132nd homicide this year.
In an effort to reduce crime in Kansas City, solve outstanding cases and prioritize the arrest of violent criminals, President Donald Trump and his attorney general have touted Operation LeGend as a much-needed answer to spiking crime. More than 300 federal investigators have been deployed to nine cities, including Kansas City.
The Department of Justice says Operation LeGend has led to 355 arrests — 33 of those are related to homicides.
U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison said the efforts are successful because the federal and local operatives work well together.
“The additional agents that were sent to Kansas City for Operation LeGend are simply supplementing the good work that was already going on,” he said. “The Kansas City police department has always been in the lead in these cases, we’re simply augmenting the good work they do every day.”
Garrison said he believes criticisms of Operation LeGend has died down as arrests increase.
“This is exactly what we promised that it would be. This is not troops in the street, this is not tanks, these are trained, professional law enforcement investigators here to combat violent crime. And the results that we’ve posted speak for themselves.”
Operation LeGend was announced as a 60-day plan. Garrison said there is no official call to extend the efforts of federal agents.
“The reality is they are on loan to us from other cities who are doing without so we can get our arms around the problem that we’re facing here, and eventually they’ll have to go back to their own districts,” he said. “We believe they have been here long enough to make an impact, and we intend to continue to build on that with the organic sources that we have here.”
Anyone with information on the city’s latest deadly shooting is asked to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. Information leading to an arrest could result in up to a $25,000 cash reward.
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