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Did Shooters Target Black Family On Block?

314 views · Published 17 April 2008 · 2:42 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: KMBC 9 · 2008 · News & Politics

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A woman who had shots fired at her house is wondering if she was targeted because she's black.

Renee Sumner said several shots were fired into her Blue Springs home at about 2 a.m. Tuesday. She said she and her family are the only African-Americans on the block.

"We were asleep. We heard, 'Bang, bang, bang.' We heard a car leave," Sumner told KMBC's Maria Antonia. "It's hard to feel safe in our home at this point. It's really hard, you know?"

No one was hurt. One of Sumner's neighbors called police.

Neighbor Donald Madison said he heard more than gunshots.

"I did hear somebody laughing in the car, like they'd done something smart they thought they'd gotten away with. I never did see the car, it got away fast, but there were shell casings clear down to my walk," Madison said.

"It's very odd we were the only family targeted," Sumner said. "It just seems that when it all came to the home of the one African-American family on the block -- Why is that?"

Sumner lives in the home with her boyfriend and her 12-year-old daughter. She said her daughter is upset by the shots.

"When that happens, you don't feel safe. It's not comforting at all," Sumner said.

Meanwhile, Sumner said the other possibility is that the shooters picked her house by mistake.

Police said they found shell casings on the street; they were .40-caliber rounds. The casings were sent to a lab for analysis.

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