Three people, two of which are juveniles, are in custody after opening fire at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade and rally yesterday. The parade had an estimated one million attendees gathered to celebrate the Chiefs’ big Super Bowl win. At least one person is dead, and 23 were injured according to Kansas City, MO Police Chief Stacey Graves. The age of the victims ranges from 8 to 47, and more than half of the victims are children under the age of 16. Officials say that three people are still in critical condition. The shooting occurred in Downtown Kansas City near Union Station.
Graves told the public that this is still an ongoing investigation. At this time, KCPD does not believe that the attack was motivated by terrorism, and they suspect that it was a personal “dispute between several people” that led to gunfire. Several firearms were recovered, though KCPD is not sharing if they were high-powered weapons just yet.
On a rumor circulating that Chiefs fans were involved in the apprehension of the gunmen, Graves said “I do want to comment on the question that I got earlier about a video of some fans tackling someone. We do have three persons detained and under investigation for today’s incident. We are working to determine if one of the three are the one that was in that video where fans assisted police.”
Children’s Mercy Hospital believes that the nine victims in their care are expected to recover. Five victims at University Health Hospital were released after being treated for gunshot wounds. According to NBC, Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 47, a popular radio DJ, was with her son at the parade when she was shot and killed in the chaos.
Chiefs player Justin Reid expressed outrage on X in a post that reads “SAD… Kids are being shot and somebody didn’t come home tonight.” He continued to say “This is a SERIOUS PROBLEM!! I pray our leaders enact real solutions so our kids’ kids won’t know this violence.”
Charles Omenihu, defensive end, wrote in a post on X “When are we going to fix these gun laws? How many more people have to die to say enough is enough? It’s too easy for the wrong people to obtain guns in America and that’s a FACT.”
Tight End Travis Kelce and Quarterback Patrick Mahomes also say they are praying for Kansas City and are heartbroken by the violence.
