An Uber driver who was transporting fans of Argentina’s soccer team to a World Cup game is among four people wounded in a string of shootings that swept through Kansas City, Missouri on Tuesday evening — attacks that also claimed one man’s life, according to police.
Authorities say a 22-year-old male suspect believed to be armed and dangerous had not been apprehended as of Thursday.
All five shootings took place between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, spread across a 5-mile corridor of the city. Three of those incidents happened on Interstates 70 and 670 as those highways pass through downtown Kansas City. Each of the shooting locations was at least 4 miles from Arrowhead Stadium, where Argentina defeated Algeria in its opening match.
Two Argentina supporters recounted the attack to the Argentine publication La Nación, saying a vehicle pulled up alongside their Uber and fired two shots, striking their driver in the leg. The passengers initially thought a tire had blown out before realizing the driver had been shot.
Following the incident, the two fans were taken to a police station to give their accounts of what happened. Officers then transported them to the stadium in patrol cars. Police Captain Jacob Becchina confirmed the Uber driver’s injuries were not life-threatening.
That shooting, along with two others on the interstates, happened as vehicles were heading eastbound — one originating from neighboring Kansas, police said. Additional shootings took place further east along Truman Road, a major city thoroughfare.
According to Becchina, three adults and one teenager were injured and all were taken to hospitals. Only one adult was reported to have life-threatening injuries.
Around 6:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a car that had crashed into a utility pole along Truman Road, east of the other shooting scenes. Hospital staff treating the driver discovered what appeared to be a gunshot wound. He later died from his injuries.
“Victims all indicated they were driving down the highway or roadway when one or more shots were fired into their vehicles,” Becchina said in a written statement.
Becchina added that investigators believe the non-fatal shootings took place “in close succession,” moving from west to east, and are linked to a single suspect.
Police traced the suspect to a home in the suburb of Independence, roughly 2 miles east of where the fatal shooting victim was discovered, leading to a standoff. However, when officers entered the residence around 8 a.m. Wednesday, the suspect was gone.
Authorities in Kansas City, Kansas, across the state line, also have an outstanding warrant for the suspect related to an illegal firearm discharge that occurred on June 11, according to Nancy Chartrand, a spokesperson for that city’s police department.
