Kansas City marked a grim milestone on Friday, when the city recorded more deaths by homicide in 2023 than any year ever recorded.
That threshold was crossed Friday evening with a fatal shooting in the 5200 Block of Lyon Avenue, as well as the announcement by police of a late death on Friday of a victim found with a gunshot wound Thursday in the 3300 block of Askew.
As of Dec. 29, there have now been 184 killings in Kansas City this year, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. Previously, 2020 was considered the city’s deadliest year ever recorded, when there had been 182 killings.
According to the Kansas City Police Department, there have been 181 homicides in the city this year. KCPD’s total excludes a police shooting in May that killed 40-year-old Tyrone L. Payne and another in June, when an officer allegedly killed Marcell T. Nelson and Kristen Fairchild, both 42.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said on X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday that homicide numbers have increased in the city, while nonfatal shootings decreased in 2023.
Sharing data from police, Lucas said nearly half of homicide victims were men ages 18 to 34, and two-thirds of victims were Black men.
Lucas said that guns were used in 167 of the 179 homicides recorded at that point by Kansas City police, and 88 of the killings were attributed to domestic violence or arguments. Police didn’t know a cause for 45 of the homicides.
“(It’s) essential we protect victims of DV and teach others in arguments to walk away,” Lucas said on X.
In the greater metropolitan area, homicides have dropped since 2020, when there had been 269 killings across the area, according to data tracked by The Star. This year, there have been 246 homicides across the metro so far.
In particular, Kansas City, Kansas, saw a large drop in homicides and other violent crimes. The city recorded 23 homicides in 2023, compared to 40 killings last year and 55 in 2020.
Kansas City organizations are collaborating to combat the staggering amount of deadly violence in the community.
Vincent Ortega, executive director of Jackson County Combat, previously told The Star that police, social service agencies, prosecutors and concerned citizens have held weekly meetings for the past eight months.
At those meetings, they discuss the number of people fatally shot that week, suspect information, ways to collaborate with other agencies and community members and other ongoing issues.
Combat also created a hub in July 2021 at the Greater Metropolitan Church of Christ, where shooting victims and families of homicide victims are connected to social services programs for their physical and mental health needs.
Other initiatives underway meant to reduce violence include KC 360, a violence prevention strategy in its early stages. Officials hope it will replicate a similar system in Omaha that reduced shootings by 74% over 15 years. Police also said they plan to take a focused deterrence approach to a violence reduction program in the new year.
“Many of these efforts are being utilized today,” Capt. Corey Carlisle said earlier this month in an email, “but a more comprehensive phase will be adopted in the beginning of the new year, which will include more community partners and resources to help increase long-term crime reduction results as it relates to violent crime.”
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