Family speaks after man dies in downtown KC shooting

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A shooting early Monday morning near Kansas City’s Power and Light District left one person dead and two others hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

But a big city family is left behind in grief and composure.

“You all have ripped a piece of my heart out – literally,” said Breanna Johnson.

The Johnson family buried their grandmother just two days ago and must now begin planning the funeral of 28-year-old McKinley Johnson.

He was a star athlete, his sister says, and a graduate of Bishop Miege School. His classmates describe him as someone everyone loved.

Now he has disappeared and the police began investigating the incident early Monday morning.

“My brother was kind and caring. He would have given me the shirt off his back, my brother never hurt anyone, that’s my little boy, that was my rock, that’s my baby, he was just special, he was one of a kind,” Breanna said.

He was shot less than 24 hours ago around 1 a.m. near 15th and Grand Boulevard and that’s when police were called.

What led to the shooting is currently unclear, and police do not know where Johnson or the two other women found in a nearby parking lot were before the shooting.

Breanna didn’t mince her words about what she would do to the person who did this.

“You made my brother another statistic, you are a coward, I hope you get what you deserve, you are a coward,” she said.

This is the latest incident in or near an entertainment district that continues to draw attention to Kansas City’s out-of-control problem of gun violence.

A few months ago it appeared on the entrance steps of the PlazaNobody died there, just a few weeks ago, Six people were shot and one man was killed in Westport.

This time it is near power and light.

“Everyone assumes they’re going to get out safe, so I want to remind people that our investigators are going to work diligently to figure out what happened. Our patrol officers are going to make sure that people who come into this area can do so safely and have fun,” said Sergeant Phil DiMartino of the KCPD.

According to investigators, this appears to be an isolated incident. However, there was a large crowd present and they believe someone knows something.

If this applies to you, please call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS. Information leading to an arrest or conviction will be rewarded with up to $25,000.

We know that the last store open in the Power and Light area closed almost an hour before this incident.

There doesn’t appear to be any connection to Power and Light at this time. However, we’ve seen once again that gun violence is a problem that continues to plague this city and its entertainment industry.