Kansas City Insiders Suspect Gang 'Child Soldiers' In Mass Shooting

The photo at the top of this post was taken by Chicago police in 1994. 

Sometime shortly thereafter suspected gangland hit-man and 11-year-old Robert "Yummy" Sandifer was murdered by another youngster.  

The story of Yummy's tragic demise shocked Americans 30 years ago and still remains hotly debated.

In the aftermath of a deadly mass shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade rally, the REALITY OF KANSAS CITY GANGS USING CHILD SOLDIERS should spark concern and provide important context for the historic spike in homicide endured under the tenure of Mayor Quinton Lucas. 

Accordingly, this post isn't to entertain or captivate but merely to inform the discussion that local elected leaders have refused to consider so far. 

On the topic of child soldiers . . .

Even the most well-read denizens of the discourse lament child soldiers on the African continent or in Latin America but overlook their existence right here in the States.

Again, the short & violent life of Yummy Sandifer documents the longstanding trend.

Moreover . . . 

Today gossip news outlet TMZ shared shocking video and images of a youngster who looked no older than 13; seemingly angry, yelling and (according to witnesses) just about to pull a rifle out of his backpack and unleash a barrage of gunfire on his adversaries amid a "dispute" —mortal danger confronting whoever else might've been standing in the way clearly wasn't a concern of the youngster.

This week . . .

Conservative Kansas City sports talker Kevin Kietzman has been calling out Mayor Quinton Lucas on the issue of local gangs and the politico's refusal to talk about the problem. 

Maybe the city hall honcho is right to ignore him. 

However . . . The fact that Mayor Q can't escape is that the Super Bowl deadly mass shooting has shown us a new facet of local violence which has emerged as homicide numbers in Kansas City, Missouri continue along a historic pace. 

Again . . . This is the point of this post. This is what insiders have told us: 

Kansas City gangs understand the law, they know that youngsters confront almost no criminal penalties for violent or even deadly actions and THEREFORE . . . Local gangs are increasingly recruiting children as part of their ranks.

Recently, our www.TonysKansasCity.com blog community was told about photos of the suspects floating around social media . . . The conversation is brutal but here's what's apparent: It's no secret that juveniles will not confront lifelong consequences for the deadly Kansas City mass shooting and all the terror they inflicted upon the entire metro area. 

Again . . . 

TMZ has documented EXTREMELY YOUNG LOOKING TEENS just moments before the gunfire which CONFIRMS that KCMO is now dealing with "Chicago-style" levels of urban warfare on local streets.

Of course politicos will deny and even condemn the use of the term "child soldiers" but that's simply the most concise and easiest phrase for readers to clearly understand. 

Let's also not forget, as KK has told his thousands of followers this week, that KC's Mayor Quinton Lucas has REFUSED to address KC's worsening gang problem in the aftermath of this tragedy. 

Now . . . 

The most critical element of this post is merely to document the reality of Kansas City urban life. 

Fact: Juveniles have been charged with the deadly KC Super Bowl rally mass shooting.

Fact: The suspects and their M.O. have a great deal in common with a nearby mass shooting earlier this year at Crown Center. 

Fact: TMZ offers images of youngsters and witness accounts of EXTREMELY young people committing this latest spate of gunfire with little regard for the lives of the crowd around them.

Fact: Insiders and authorities now seem to understand that we're reaching a new levels of KCMO brutality with deadly gangs willing to recruit children in order to more effectively commit acts of violence. 

As we noted at the outset of this post . . . 

None of these trends are novel but so many in Kansas City have, wisely, insulated themselves from the violent reality on local streets.

What recent mass shootings have revealed is that endemic violence in Kansas City now impacts every aspect of local life and neither the criminal justice system nor our political leadership have informed the populous that children committing these atrocities DO NOT confront any long-term consequences for their deadly actions.  

Developing . . .