5 more killings mean 2021 second-worst year on record in KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Five killings in Kansas City, Missouri, during Christmas week have brought the 2021 total to 156, making it the city’s second-deadliest year on record.

The Kansas City Star reports that only last year was worse, when Kansas City had 182 homicides.

This year topped the 155 killings that occurred in 2017. The entire Kansas City metropolitan area, including the Kansas suburbs, has seen 215 homicides in 2021.

Mayor Quinton Lucas, on Twitter, says the city will “never stop trying” to reduce the number of killings, calling it Kansas City’s “greatest challenge.”