Person of interest in Kansas City killing found dead of apparent suicide, police say

A person of interest in a fatal shooting was found dead Tuesday in south Kansas City of an apparent suicide, according to police.

Detectives discovered the body of an adult male in a wooded area a few blocks away from the place where a woman was found shot in the street earlier Tuesday morning. Police were searching the area after finding a vehicle near 86th Street and Woodland Avenue believed to be involved in the case, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police spokesman, said in a statement.

The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, had suffered what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Becchina said. Emergency medical personnel declared him dead at the scene.

Earlier Tuesday, Kansas City police opened a homicide investigation after a woman was found unresponsive in the street at the entrance of an apartment complex near 82nd Street and Forest Avenue. The victim, identified by police only as a woman, was dead at the scene.

Detectives believe a confrontation between the woman and a man took place in the street in the moments before the shooting, Becchina said.

Dee Akins lives in a home behind the apartment complex. She came running to the front when her niece, who lives nearby, called to say she heard a gunshot.

“That’s when the young lady was lying there,” Akins said.

Police covered the victim from the view of those nearby, including about a dozen elementary school kids who stood waiting on their school bus, Akins said.

Police are still investigating the killing and the apparent suicide. The department is encouraging anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.

The Star’s Anna Spoerre and Katie Moore contributed to this report.