KCK man charged in connection with Westport shootings

A Kansas City, Kan., man, Kelvin Clark, 29, was charged in the Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court in connection with the 3 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, shootings in the Westport area in Kansas City, Mo.

Seven counts of first-degree accessory assault and seven counts of armed criminal action were filed against Clark, according to a statement from the Jackson County, Mo., prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors are requesting a bond of $250,000.

The probable cause statement says that shots were fired near large crowds of people in Westport early Sunday.

Kansas City, Mo., police officers responded after hearing shots fired and found several victims suffering from gunshot wounds, the probable cause statement says.

One victim told police he got “weird vibes” from guys in the area, hurried into a parking lot, and was struck by a black vehicle that knocked him to the ground. He was hit in the thigh by gunfire, he told police.

Kansas City, Mo., police detectives viewed video surveillance of the incident from a Westport business, and they said it showed the black vehicle striking the victim, the probable cause statement said. The video also showed two males exiting the black vehicle and firing shots toward the running victim and other victims, according to the probable cause statement.

The suspects then fled from the area in the black vehicle, with police obtaining the license number, and then it was involved in a car crash near 39th and Southwest Trafficway in Kansas City, Mo., according to a witness quoted in the probable cause statement. The two males in the car ran away, and one of them dropped a gun on the sidewalk, the witness stated.

Officers took Clark into custody in the area, where he was seen running, according to the probable cause statement. A female suspect was taken into custody inside the car, according to the statement.

Clark told police, “I don’t know what’s going on. I was the passenger in a wreck and then I ran,” according to the probable cause statement.

The female suspect told police they were all in Westport when the two males in the car began talking to another person. The female said she was inside the car when gunfire started and then ducked down, according to the probable cause statement.

According to the probable cause statement, Clark later told police he was in the back seat of a car that was in a wreck. He said he was too intoxicated to remember who else was in the car, and stated he was not involved in an altercation, according to the probable cause statement.

The probable cause statement does not contain information about the whereabouts of the driver.