Just before 7:30 pm, Kansas City MO Police Officers were called to to the 5200 block of Lyon Avenue, near the 300 block of N. Hardesty on a shooting call. Upon arrival, officers located the bodybof N unresponsive male in the street.
KCFD EMS crews areived and began to render aid to the victim. Unfortunately the victim was declared deceased.

Sgt Jake Becchina looks back on a homicide scene Friday evening near Hardesty and Lyon Avenues.

Homicide detectives will be on the scene processing information and interviewing potential witnesses.

If anyone saw anything or has any information they are asked to contact Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS hotline.

In the middle of the briefing, six large caliber gunshots were heard to the east of the crime scene.

We asked Sergeant Jake Becchina about the disturbing trend of homicide numbers, not just the record setting numbers for 2023 but the record number of five homicides in the month of December.

In a street level, one on one conversation after the rest of the media left the scene for other stories, Becchina talked candidly about the record homicide numbers and what Northeast is doing right deapite what the stats might say. 

‘You’ve heard me say this. I’ve mentioned this before, neighborhoods that look out for each other are safer neighborhoods.
The historic Northeast is one of those neighborhoods,” Becchina said.
“There are established neighborhood associations. They don’t observe neighborhood association boundaries, they talk to each other, they work things out among each other. There is a Community Improvement District,  there are volunteers and paid people that work like the Avenue Angels to keep an eye out for things.
These are all the things in the textbook that good safe neighborhoods do. There’s a  neighborhood based community publication. This is all the textbook stuff. And year to year, I will hold up the historic northeast as a great example of what a community association can be. And generally there is less violent crime in that area. So to see that increase, im December,  is a little bit confounding, It really is.”