Gunman's rampage kills two women
By CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star
Kansas City police are looking for a gunman who killed two women Friday, apparently at random, when he shot at vehicles during a two-hour rampage in a stolen car.
Investigators had no motive in the deaths on 31st Street, which police thought were linked to a carjacking and at least one other shooting.
We have no idea why he picked these victims, said Homicide Sgt. Doug Niemeier.
Police identified one victim as Raevena McClenton, 27, of Kansas City. Police said she was on her way to work when she was shot in the head. The other victim was not identified while officials notified her relatives.
Mayor Pro-Tem Alvin Brooks said the crime spree was crazy, senseless, and shows a total lack of respect for human life.
The community group Move Up planned a prayer vigil and march for the victims at noon today at 31st Street and Cleveland Avenue.
Police think the fatal shootings were connected to several other crimes that occurred early Friday, including a carjacking about 5:55 a.m. at Ninth Street and Hardesty Avenue. A man got into the passenger side of a red Ford Escort when the car pulled up to a stoplight. The man said something to the driver, who does not speak English, then started hitting him on the head with a gun. The driver ran away.
About 30 minutes later, someone in a small red car fired three to five gunshots into a house in the 2500 block of Elmwood Avenue. No one was hurt. The residents told police they did not know why anyone would have shot at their home.
A few minutes after that, a man driving a small red car westbound on 31st between Jackson and Indiana avenues fired into another westbound vehicle with three occupants. The bullet hit McClenton's head as she sat in the front passenger seat. A bullet also struck the face of the driver, who was recovering at a hospital Friday. McClenton's mother, who was in the back seat, was not hurt.
After the shooting, the injured driver pulled into the parking lot of a service station at Linwood Boulevard and Indiana Avenue to call for help.
While officers were at the service station, a woman arrived at Truman Medical Center with a gunshot wound to her head. Witnesses said a gunman in a small red car shot her as she sat in the front passenger seat of a truck traveling along the same stretch of 31st Street as McClenton was. The pickup driver took the victim to the hospital, where she died Friday afternoon. The driver and another passenger were not hurt.
At 7:45 a.m., more than an hour after the shootings, the red Ford Escort that was taken in the carjacking was found crashed into two parked cars in the 3600 block of Prospect Avenue. Witnesses said they heard a gunshot before the crash and then saw a young man running from the wrecked car. He was described as black, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with braided hair. He was wearing jeans and a black hooded jacket.
Police did not know how the gunshot factored into the wreck. Niemeier said they were unaware of anything or anyone being hit by that gunshot.
Niemeier said his detectives would like to talk to anyone who saw the man fleeing the wreck. Anyone with information should call the homicide unit at (816) 234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (474-8477).
We believe one person is responsible for these incidents, and it's important for the public to know this person is still out there, Niemeier said. We need the public's help.