Detectives spread out at 2 crime scenes following deadly shooting near Westport Road

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Friday afternoon into evening, two sections of Broadway were closed near Westport after a shooting outside a smoke shop that led the victim to drive off the road across from Mill Creek Park.

Two men were arguing inside the smoke shop at 40th Street and Broadway Boulevard, the argument spilled outside, and one man shot the other, police said.

Public Information Officer Alayna Gonzalez said officers were originally called to the area about a collision at Westport Road and Broadway. An SUV had hit a motorcycle. As they were on the way, the call was upgraded to a shooting, at which point the response was escalated.

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The motorcyclist was a witness to the shooting, Gonzalez said, and directed police to where the shooting happened -- a block north, between 39th and 40th Streets. The shooting victim had been driving the SUV. He made it three blocks before driving west off the road into a hill just south of 43rd Street where Broadway turns into Mill Creek Parkway.

There were many business surveillance cameras and witnesses in the area where the shooting occurred. Police did not find a suspect immediately, but Gonzalez was optimistic that they would. At 9 p.m., police advised they had identified a “subject of interest” and taken him into custody.

In 2024, arguments were the number one contributing factor to homicides in the city.

“Arguments escalating to gunfire, people not being able to practice and utilize conflict resolution skills was the number one reason that we had people that were dying in our city,” said Gonzalez. “People that were going without spending holidays with their loved ones, being there for their kids, being there for their grandparents, whatever the case may be, missing holidays because people are arguing and can’t walk away.”

In 2025, she said, the leading cause of homicide was domestic violence. The Kansas City Police Department’s online homicide data lists contributing factors to homicides. In some cases, there is more than one contributing factor. Of the 61 homicides recorded this year, 23 had argument as a contributing factor. Domestic violence was listed for 14.

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