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Kansas City bar shooting leaves 4 dead, 5 wounded

Posted at 4:37 PM, Oct 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-06 16:37:13-04

KANSAS CITY — Four people were killed and another five were injured in a shooting at a private Kansas City bar overnight, police said.

Officers were called to the Tequila KC bar in Kansas City, Kansas at 1:27 a.m. (2:27 a.m. ET) and four shooting victims were found dead inside the bar, police spokesman Thomas Tomasic said.

The four, all Hispanic males, were identified as a man in his late 50s, another in his mid-30s and two in their mid-20s, Tomasic said.

Another five people who had been shot were taken to area hospitals and were stable Sunday morning. At least two people have been released from the hospital, police said.

Tomasic said investigators believe there were “possibly two suspects that entered” the bar and began shooting. Police found handgun shell casings at the scene.

Investigators believe this is an isolated incident and “do not feel it’s racially motivated,” Tomasic said.

The preliminary investigation reveals an earlier dispute at the bar led to the shooting, police said.

“We don’t feel that these suspects are going to go out and do this again,” he said.

About 40 people were in the bar at the time of the shooting. Detectives are looking for surveillance video from the area.

The Tequila KC bar is a private, members-only venue, Tomasic said.

Bar was a welcoming place

Toni Maciel, whose cousins were injured and whose friends were killed in the shooting, said one of the suspects was kicked out of the bar last night and then returned with a second person, resulting in a confrontation.

Maciel said one of the men who died had planned to marry her friend next year. She said her cousins, who were injured, are in stable condition at the hospital.

The Tequila KC bar has a reputation as a gathering place for the community, she said, and it was always a safe and welcoming place to adults from their 20s to their 60s. People would come after work for a drink, and guests generally know each other and their families.

Maciel called on the suspects to turn themselves into police.

“Make it easier for yourselves. Find it in your hearts to do this, please. We have brothers, sons, cousins, uncles, that are no longer here because of your senseless act,” she said.

A vigil for the victims will be held tonight at 7 p.m. CDT.