4 killed, 5 wounded in mass shooting at Kansas bar

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Two men opened fire inside a bar in Kansas City early Sunday, killing four people and wounding five others in a shooting believed to have stemmed from an earlier dispute, police said.

Authorities searched Sunday for the two gunmen, said police Officer Thomas Tomasic. He said the two had apparently gotten into some sort of argument with people inside Tequila KC Bar, left, then returned with handguns.

“We think there was something that happened in the bar earlier probably,” Tomasic said. “Unfortunately, they left and decided to take it to another level, came back and started shooting.”

About 40 people were inside the small bar when gunfire erupted around 1:30 a.m., Tomasic said. The gunfire sent people running for the exits, with the injured leaving trails of blood as they fled.

All four men who were killed were Latino, but Tomasic said authorities do not believe the shooting was racially motivated. The shooting happened in a neighborhood with a large Latino population.

Tomasic said investigators were reviewing surveillance video and interviewing witnesses while looking for the gunmen. “Obviously being a bar at 1:30, stories vary a lot,” he said.

Among the dead was one man in his late 50s, another in his mid-30s and two in their mid-20s, police said. Authorities did not immediately release their names.

Juan Ramirez told the Kansas City Star that his 29-year-old nephew was among those killed. He said his nephew left behind a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. “I don’t wish this upon anybody,” Ramirez said.

Bartender Jose Valdez told the newspaper that he had refused to serve one of the suspects on Saturday night because the man had previously caused problems at the bar. Valdez said the man threw a cup at him and left, but...