KCPD Memorial Lest We Forget
Honoring the Fallen
Officer
William Kenner
Kansas City, MO Police Dept
EOW: Saturday, May 7, 1955
Incident date: May 6, 1955
Age: 58
DOB: October 16, 1896
Tour of Duty: 23 years
Cause: Gunfire
Suspect: Sentenced to 10 years

On May 6, 1955, Officer William Kenner was off-duty, when he heard a gun shot and investigated and discovered two men, armed with a shotgun, involved in an altercation in front of 1332 East 18th Street. Officer Kenner was shot and killed when he attempted to disarm the suspect.

On May 6, 1955 Officer William Kenner was off duty having coffee at a restaurant with his wife after attending a lodge meeting, when at around 11:30 pm he heard a gun shot. He investigated and found two men - Russell Hoover and Herschel Williams (34) in front of the Lincoln Theater at 1332 East 18th Street. Williams was armed with a shotgun, Hoover was lying nearby on the ground with a gunshot wound to the foot. Officer Kenner, who had known Williams from the neighborhood since Williams was a child, ordered him to drop the shotgun. Williams turned and shot Officer Kenner in the right shoulder, then ran to a nearby vehicle and drove away. Responding officers traced the license plate from the suspect vehicle and apprehended Williams as he returned to his home. Officer Kenner was transported to General Hospital #2 where he succumbed to his wounds, which included a broken right humerus, severed axillary artery and laceration of the upper lobe of the right lung, at just after midnight on May 7, 1955.

The prosecution sought the death penalty against Williams, who had retrieved a shotgun from his home to resolve an earlier dispute with Hoover over a bar stool. Williams was sentenced to ten years in prison by the jury.

Officer Kenner served in the Army during WWI and with the KCPD since 1932. He was survived by his wife, Agnes. Interred: Lincoln Cemetery.

Article by Brent Marchant

Kansas City Police Memorial