By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
KANSAS CITY, MO— The mass shooting that unfolded at the conclusion of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade and rally appeared to stem from a dispute between several people, authorities said Thursday.
Police Chief Stacey Graves said that the 22 people wounded in the shooting ranged between the ages of 8 and 47 years old - half were under the age of 16. A mother of two was also killed.
Three people were detained, including two juveniles, and firearms were recovered during the mayhem, police said. But, investigators are calling for witnesses, people with cellphone footage and victims of the violence to call a dedicated hotline.
"We are working to determine the involvement of others. And it should be noted we have recovered several firearms. This incident is still a very active investigation,” Graves said at a news conference.
University Health spokesperson Leslie Carto said two of the eight gunshot victims brought to the hospital are still in critical condition. One is in stable condition. The other five have been discharged. The hospital also treated four people from the rally who had non-gunshot injuries. Three of those patients were discharged.
Stephanie Meyer, chief nursing officer for Children’s Mercy Kansas City, said it was treating 12 patients from the rally, including 11 children between the ages of 6-15 - many of whom suffered gunshot wounds. All are expected to recover.
St. Luke’s Hospital spokesperson Emily Hohenberg said one gunshot victim at the hospital remains in critical condition. Four people who suffered injuries while fleeing the aftermath of the shooting were treated and released.
The shooting outside Union Station occurred, despite the presence of more than 800 police officers who were in the building and nearby, including on top of nearby structures. Mayor Quinton Lucas doesn't expect to cancel the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parade in Kansas City.
“We have parades all the time. I don’t think they’ll end. Certainly we recognized the public safety challenges and issues that relate to them,” Lucas said.
It's unclear exactly how many people attended the Chief's Super Bowl parade. Witnesses described confusion as gunshots began, sounding to some like fireworks.
Some people didn’t run at first, but others immediately scrambled for cover. The rally music initially continued playing, despite the havoc.
Social media users posted shocking video of police running through Wednesday's crowded scene as people scrambled for cover and fled.
One video showed someone apparently performing chest compressions on a victim as another person, seemingly writhing in pain, lay on the ground nearby. People screamed in the background.
Another video showed two people chase and tackle a person, holding them down until two police officers arrived. It was not immediately clear if the person he held down was involved in the shooting.
The woman killed in the shooting was identified by radio station KKFI-FM as host Lisa Lopez-Galvan.
Kansas City has long struggled with gun violence, and in 2020 it was among nine cities targeted by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city matched a record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.
Lucas has joined with mayors across the country in calling for new laws to reduce gun violence, including mandating universal background checks.
“We did everything to make this event as safe as possible,” Lucas, a Democrat, said in an interview. "But, as long as we have fools who will commit these types of acts, as long as we have their access to firearms with this level of capacity, then we may see incidents like this one.”
The parade and rally were the third in five years after Chiefs' Super Bowl wins. Lucas said it may be time to reconsider how to handle the next one if they win again, perhaps holding a “vastly smaller event” at Arrowhead Stadium, with fans going through metal detectors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
