By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Kameron Freemyer had lived the dream of a lifetime.
A Mound City native and former Missouri Western women's basketball player, she spent this past season as an intern in player development for the Kansas City Chiefs.
After the Chiefs won their third Super Bowl in five years, Freemyer took part in the victory parade three days later. Riding on top of a bus. Beaming. As everyone in downtown Kansas City was. Then, at the end, the unthinkable happened.
"It was a day of celebrating the Chiefs and bringing the Lombardi home to Kansas City again," Freemyer told KFEQ Radio. "It was a surreal moment, seeing all of those fans out there supporting our team.
In those moments (after), they were scary, but our main focus was making sure everyone was safe and made it back, and they did. Our hearts go out to those who were impacted."
Two men have been charged with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade. Both adults are charged with second-degree murder and other charges.
Both men have been hospitalized since the shooting. The new charges come after two juveniles were detained last week on gun-related and resisting arrest charges. Authorities said more charges are possible. Police have said a dispute among several people led to the shooting.
Greg Carbin was there that day as well. Carbin is a 2007 Missouri Western graduate and former defensive back for the Griffon football team. He was head strength coach at Missouri Western for seven years and has been an assistant strength coach with the Chiefs for the last five.
He says the path to healing in the aftermath of Wednesday's tragedy starts from within. Starts with being a little kinder to one another.
"We can make our city better by being good humans," Carbin said. "It really starts with you seeking the Holy Spirit everyday and you just being a good person. There's a lot of good people in the city. Through the works of Trav (Travis Kelce), the Hunts, the Mahomes', I think they're going to do their due diligence in bringing the city together."
The Chiefs have since launched the 'KC Strong' emergency response fund which supports victims impacted by the shooting. The team is accepting donations online.
Jay White, former Missouri Western punter and kicking coach, just finished his ninth season with the Chiefs as an assistant equipment manager. He, like many, struggle to make sense of what happened this past week.
Yet, when White looks to the future, he remains hopeful.
"Tragedies like this are senseless," he said. "But, there's great people around us and it's a great organization. I think we'll be...we'll end up on top."
Despite what has happened, one thing holds true - the Chiefs are on top of the football world for the third time in five years. Leaving no doubt that they are, indeed, a dynasty.
That’s something that Greg Carbin wants all of Chiefs Kingdom to remember and relish as everyone grapples with the tragedy that ensued such a joyous occasion.
"Such a blessing," Carbin said. "All Glory to God for our third Super Bowl championship in the last five years. It starts from the top down in ownership to head coach Andy Reid, my boss (Ryan Reynolds), everyone in the organization and all the different departments."
Greg Carbin, Jay White interview
Kameron Freemyer interview
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost