1 dead, 5 hurt in shooting outside Kansas City bar where off-duty officers were working

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A shooting outside a bar in Kansas City where off-duty police officers were working security has left one person dead and five others hurt, authorities said.

The shooting happened about 11 p.m. Sunday following a disturbance inside Westport Ale House, NBC affiliate KSHB of Kansas City reported, citing the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Three off-duty Kansas City officers were working security at the bar, the patrol said, and they returned fire during the shooting. There were no reports of officers being injured in the shooting.

“In a situation like this, you can’t really predict something that’s going to happen, but there were precautions taken by the Ale House,” highway patrol Sgt. Bill Lowe said.

The Associated Press left a message Monday seeking additional information from Lowe and the highway patrol.

A Kansas City police spokesperson said in an email that inquiries about the shooting were being handled by the highway patrol.

It wasn’t immediately known whether shots from the officers struck anyone, the patrol said. The shooting was under investigation.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas condemned the violence in a statement Monday morning.

“With multiple police officers and security guards present, we still saw a shoot out on the streets of our city. The easy access to guns and the total lack of safeguards in our state to keep people from carrying them almost anywhere continues to put our people at risk each day,” he said.

Lucas said he will be at the White House on Monday with President Joe Biden and political and police leaders “to find ways to reduce gun violence in our communities.”

The White House event will celebrate the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law late June.

The legislation, touted by the president as “the most significant gun violence reduction legislation in 30 years,” offers grants to states for “red flag” laws, enhances background checks by including juvenile records, and closes what’s known as the “boyfriend loophole.”