KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eight children were among 22 people hit by gunfire at the end of a parade Wednesday to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory A Super Bowl win, authorities said, sending terrified fans running for cover as another high-profile public event was marred by gun violence. One of those victims — a mother of two identified by her radio station as a DJ — was killed.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said three people were taken into custody as part of the investigation. She said she had heard fans may have been involved in the tackle with a suspect, but could not immediately confirm that.
“I am angry about what happened today. People who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment. Graves said. Police did not immediately release any details about the people in custody or a possible motive for the shooting. She said firearms were found, but not what kind.
A woman is taken away in an ambulance after an accident following the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City, Missouri, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Super Bowl 58. ( AP Photo/Reid Hoffman )
“This is all under active investigation,” she said.
It’s the newest sports holiday in the US to end in gun violenceafter a shooting that injured several people last year in downtown Denver after the Nuggets’ NBA championship and a shooting last year in a parking lot near the Texas Rangers’ World Series parade.
Social media users posted shocking video of police running through a crowded scene as people scrambled for cover and ran. One video shows someone apparently performing chest compressions on a shooting victim while another person, seemingly writhing in pain, lies on the ground nearby. People were shouting in the background.
Another video shows two people chasing and tackling a man, holding them down until two police officers arrive.
AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports.
Radio station KKFI said in a Facebook post Wednesday night that Lisa Lopez-Galvan, host of “Taste of Tejano,” was killed in the shooting.
“This senseless act took a beautiful person from her family and this KC community,” KKFI said in a statement.
Lopez-Galvan, whose DJ name was “Lisa G,” was an outgoing and devoted mother from a prominent Latino family in the area, said Rosa Izurieta and Marta Ramirez, two childhood friends who worked with her at a staffing company. Izurieta said Lopez-Galvan attended the parade with her husband and her adult son, a die-hard Kansas City sports fan who was also shot.
“She’s the type of person who would jump in front of a bullet for anybody — that would be Lisa,” Izurietta said.
The shooting outside Union Station came despite more than 800 police officers who were in and around the building, including on nearby buildings, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was in attendance with his wife and mother and had to run for cover when gunfire erupted outside .
“I think it’s something that all of us who are parents, who are just regular people living every day, have to decide what we want to do,” Lucas said. “Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems almost nothing is safe.
Kansas City has long struggled with gun violence, and in 2020, it was among nine cities targeted by the US Department of Justice in an effort to deal with serious crimes. In 2023, the city hit a record 182 murders, most of them involving guns.
Lucas joined mayors across the country in calling for new laws to reduce gun violence, including mandatory universal background checks.
Lisa Money, a resident of the town, was trying to collect some confetti towards the end of the parade when she heard someone yell, “Down, down, everybody down!”
At first, Parry thought someone must be joking until he saw the SWAT team jump the fence.
“I can’t believe it actually happened. Who in their right mind would do something like that? This should be a day of celebration for everyone in the city and surrounding area. And then you have some idiot who wants to come and do something like that,” she said.
Kevin Sanders, 53, of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers and then people started running. After this initial commotion, calm returned and he didn’t think much of it. But 10 minutes later, ambulances started coming.
“It sucks that someone had to screw up the celebration, but we’re in a big city,” Sanders said.
University Health spokeswoman Nancy Lewis said the hospital is treating eight gunshot victims. Two are in critical condition and six are in stable condition, she said. The hospital also treated four people for other injuries as a result of the chaos after the shooting, Lewis said.
Lisa Augustine, a spokeswoman for Children’s Mercy Kansas City, said the hospital is treating 12 patients from the rally, including 11 children, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds.
St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City admitted one gunshot patient in critical condition and three others who arrived with non-life-threatening injuries, spokeswoman Laurel Gifford said.
“When you have that many casualties, it’s going to be spread across a lot of hospitals so you don’t overwhelm any EMS,” said Jill Jensen Chadwick, director of news for the University of Kansas Health System, which received at least one person injured in the shooting.
Head coach Rick Burkholder said he was with coach Andy Reid and other coaches and staff members at the time of the shooting and that the team was on buses and coming back to Arrowhead Stadium.
“We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside Union Station at the end of today’s parade and rally,” the team said in a statement.
Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parsons and first lady Theresa Parsons were in the parade at the time of the shooting but were unharmed. “Thanks to the professionalism of our security officers and first responders, Teresa and I and our staff are safe and secure,” Parsons said in a statement.
President Joe Biden said the shooting “cuts deep into the American soul” and urged people to pressure Congress to ban assault weapons, limit high-capacity magazines and other gun measures that have been rejected by Republicans.
“Today’s events should move us, shock us, shame us into acting. What are we waiting for?” he said.
Biden noted that Wednesday was the anniversary of the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead, and said there have been more mass shootings in 2024 “than there have been days in the year.”
Areas that had been packed with crowds were empty after the shooting, with police and firefighters standing and talking behind an area cordoned off with yellow tape.
Crowds had lined the route earlier, with fans climbing trees and street poles or standing on rooftops for a better view. The players rolled through the crowd on double-decker buses as DJs and drummers heralded their arrival. Owner Clark Hunt was on one of the buses holding the Lombardi Trophy.
The city and team each gave about $1 million to the event to honor Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who became the first team since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots two decades ago defend their title.
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Associated Press writers Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa; Jim Salter in St. Louis; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to attribute a quote about hospitals admitting patients to Jill Jensen Chadwick, not Laurel Gifford.
