Man found dead with gunshot wounds in thick brush off south Kansas City street: Police

A man was discovered dead with gunshot wounds laying in thick brush off a south Kansas City street Friday afternoon, according to police.

Officers responded around 1 p.m. to Wabash Ave and East 84th St, near Marlborough Park and Hickman Mills Drive, according to Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department.

Officers responded to a medical call, rather than to reports of gunshots, Gonzalez said. A woman had discovered the man laying in an area of thick brush just off the street.

Paramedics responded shortly after and declared the man dead at the scene. Staff from the Jackson County medical examiner’s office arrived to retrieve the body from the quiet residential street around 3 p.m., as passing neighbors stopped walking their dogs to look on.

Between Wabash Avenue and Olive Street, 85th street was blocked off into the late afternoon as officers waded into the thick trees to photograph the scene of the homicide. In a ditch just behind the trees, broken furniture and shattered plant pots poked out of small slag heaps.

It is unclear how long the man was in the wooded area, or how long ago he was wounded, Gonzalez said Friday. It is also not known whether he was shot in the street or in the small overgrown area where his body was found.

Initial impressions from the scene Friday afternoon indicate that the shooting could have happened several hours prior, but likely not days or weeks, Gonzalez said.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still unknown, Gonzalez said. KCPD homicide detectives had not identified any witnesses or suspects as of Friday afternoon, Gonzalez said.

The killing is Kansas City’s 72nd homicide of 2024, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.