Detective William Kenner was shot and killed when he intervened in an altercation between two men.

On May 6, 1955 Detective 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. Detective Kenner, who had known Williams from the neighborhood since Williams was a child, ordered him to drop the shotgun. Williams turned and shot Detective 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. Detective 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 shortly after midnight.

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 barstool. Williams was sentenced to ten years in prison by the jury.

Detective 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