On January 30, 2023, police in Kansas City, Missouri, discovered the body of 20-year-old Thomas Lewis inside a vehicle following reports of a shooting. Officers were dispatched just before 1:00 a.m. to the area near East 55th Street and Cleveland Avenue, close to Meyer Boulevard and Swope Parkway. Upon arrival, they found the young male victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene, but Lewis was declared deceased shortly thereafter.
The events leading up to the fatality involved an illegal street racing event, known as a sideshow, which Lewis had been attending with his pregnant girlfriend and two friends. According to accounts provided by his family, the group was in a car when Lewis initially believed he had accidentally shot himself in the ankle. As he told his companions he needed to go to the hospital, an unknown individual wearing a mask and glasses approached their vehicle. The assailant asked if Lewis was okay before opening fire into the car, striking it approximately six to eight times. The gunfire shattered the back window, and flying glass injured one of the passengers.
In the chaotic moments that followed, the driver of the vehicle attempted to transport Lewis to a hospital while communicating with dispatchers, who instructed them to stop and wait for an ambulance. During this interval, Lewis succumbed to his injuries. The friends attempted CPR while waiting for emergency services to arrive. Lewis’s family later described the trauma experienced by the witnesses, who were reportedly unharmed by the bullets but deeply affected by the violence they observed.
As of the available reports following the incident, authorities had not released specific information regarding the identity of the shooter beyond the description provided by witnesses. No arrests were immediately announced in connection with the homicide. Police urged the public to come forward with any information and offered a reward of up to $25,000 for tips leading to an arrest. The investigation remained ongoing as detectives sought to identify the person responsible for the targeted attack at the sideshow.
