Kansas City shooting spree suspect linked to earlier shooting
A suspect wanted in a Kansas City-area shooting spree that killed one person and injured four others has been identified by police as the suspect in a similar shooting days earlier in Kansas City, Kansas, according to police.
The suspect, 22-year-old Oscar Sanchez Muñoz, remains at large and should be considered armed and dangerous. Police have been searching for him since Tuesday’s spree shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, which included an Uber driver who was taking passengers to a World Cup match.
Kansas City, Kansas police said the earlier shooting happened at about 6:26 p.m. on June 11 near 7th Street and Metropolitan Avenue, where a vehicle occupied by an adult and a child was struck by gunfire.
Detectives interviewed witnesses, and analysts at the department’s Real Time Intelligence Crime Center used technology to identify the suspect and track his movements. Police said they also identified his residence and used that information to issue a metro-wide officer safety alert.
When the series of shootings unfolded Tuesday in Kansas City, Missouri, police in Kansas City, Kansas recognized that the suspect description closely matched the person identified in the June 11 case, the department said.
Kansas City, Kansas police said they shared information from their investigation with Kansas City, Missouri police, making Sanchez Muñoz a person of interest in the shooting spree.
The Tuesday shootings happened in close succession across the Kansas City area, moving from west to east, according to Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves. Police believe all five shootings in Missouri are connected to Sanchez Muñoz.
One person was killed near Truman Road and Bennington Avenue after police were first called for an injury crash. The victim was taken to a hospital, where medical workers discovered he had been shot. He later died.
Four other people were wounded in shootings near I-670 and Wyoming Street, I-70 and Paseo Boulevard, I-70 and Prospect Avenue, and Truman Road and Hardesty Avenue. Police said the victims had been in vehicles when shots were fired.
One of the surviving victims was an Uber driver who was taking passengers to the World Cup match between Argentina and Algeria in Kansas City, Graves said.
Police have said they found no other connection between the shootings and the World Cup.
The investigation led police to a home in Independence, Missouri, where officers believed Sanchez Muñoz was inside. The home later caught fire, and police searched the burned residence, nearby structures and vehicles, but the suspect was not found.
Police said the vehicle used in the shootings was found at the home and is in custody.
Sanchez Muñoz also has an active warrant out of Kansas City, Kansas, or Wyandotte County, for aggravated assault with a $100,000 bond, Graves said. Anyone who sees him has been asked to call 911 immediately.
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