OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:41 AM – Sunday, May 21, 2023
Three people were killed and two others badly wounded in a shooting at a nightclub in Kansas City, Missouri, early Sunday morning. It was one of at least three mass shootings that occurred in the country this weekend.
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The victims’ names in the Kansas City incident have not been immediately made public by the authorities. However, friends and relatives of a local man named Jason McConnell confirmed on social media that he was purportedly one of the victims who perished that day.
Honystye Chancellor, McConnell’s stepdaughter, told the press on Sunday that her stepfather was a kind man who was well-liked in the neighborhood.
“Almost everybody in Kansas City knew him,” she said. “He treated everybody [well].”
Additionally, four people were injured outside of a bar in another shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, which happened around the same time as the shooting in Kansas City.
Four victims are needed for an incident to qualify as a mass shooting, according to the Gun Violence Archive, and the high frequency of such instances in the U.S. has spurred some to make repeated but unmet petitions to Congress to enact stronger gun laws. However, many Americans who fervently defend the Second Amendment feel that the nation ought to support better mental health services and resources instead and that the rise in shootings is directly tied to the fact that mental illness is statistically becoming more common.
The Klymax Lounge denotes itself as Kansas City’s “newest addition to the nightlife” and debuted on social media in April 2021. The club appears to regularly feature live performances by bands and other entertainers based on the posts on its Instagram feed.
One of those killed at the club on Sunday was discovered by authorities right outside the establishment. Another victim was discovered dead inside the club, and lastly, a third person passed away after being taken to the hospital.
One of the two injured individuals was in a critical state.
Chancellor claimed that as of noon on Sunday, she had not received a formal communication from the police regarding her stepfather’s passing in the Kansas City incident. She had learned about it at around three in the morning, when she started getting calls from friends as news of the event spread like wildfire.
“We just talked on Friday,” Chancellor said, since McConnell had shared details with her about his new job at a truck stop. He was a “jack of all trades” type, she said, working many different jobs.
McConnell occasionally worked in security, but at the time of the shooting he was employed in a different position and was therefore not wearing his protective vest, which he reportedly wore often.
One woman was badly injured during the chaos, even though she was not shot at by any bullets. Nevertheless, she was still counted as a victim by the police.
Chancellor expressed her hope that authorities will make it a top priority to apprehend those guilty of instigating the violence over the weekend.
“I just hope that they do what they need to do to find out who did this, not only to him but to all those other people as well… They [were] somebody’s mom, dad, brother, sister,” Chancellor said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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