US Super Bowl parade shooting: 1 dead, more than 20 injured
February 15, 2024
At least one person died and more than 20 people were wounded on Wednesday after shots were fired at the end of the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said on Wednesday that the gunshot wound total had risen to 22 people, eight of them children.
What we know about the shooting
Graves said police were not yet certain whether the Super Bowl victory celebration was targeted for attack, or whether the violence occurred on the sidelines of the event and spilled over into it.
Police chief Graves said police detained a third individual, having initially reported two detentions.
"We do have three persons detained and under investigation for today's incident," she told reporters, alluding to videos posted online that showed fans assisting police in subduing an individual. "We are working to determine if one of the three are the one that was in that video where fans assisted police."
Police were working to identify the deceased victim and notify their family as soon as possible, and were trying to connect the injured with their loved ones, she said.
"At this time ... the scene has been made safe, and it's been cleared," Graves said, but added that investigations continued at the site.
A local Kansas radio station, KKFI, later said that one of its DJs, Lisa Lopez, was killed in the shooting.
"This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community," the station said in a statement.
Biden urges action against guns
President Joe Biden said the shooting "cuts deep in the American soul" and called on people to press Congress to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines and for other 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 asked.
"We've now had more mass shootings in 2024 than there have been days in the year," Biden said.
Chiefs lament 'senseless act of violence'
The Kansas City Chiefs condemned the shooting in a statement, writing they were "truly saddened by the senseless act of violence" and that their "hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all of Kansas City."
The statement thanked law enforcement officials and first responders and said all of the American football team's players, coaches and staff were safe and accounted for after the shooting.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who also attended the celebration, said at a press briefing that he was "incredibly upset, disappointed" about the shooting.
"I don't want us to have to in our country — for every big event — think about a concern of being shot," he said.
"I'm angry at what happened today," said Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves. "The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment."
The Kansas City shooting is at least the 47th mass shooting in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which counts cases in which four or more people were hit, not including the shooter.
Thousands gathered for celebrations
Thousands of people had gathered in downtown Kansas City to celebrate the Chiefs' winning this year's NFL Superbowl on Sunday night with members of the team.
"Praying for Kansas City," Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wrote online.
Both the Missouri and Kansas governors said they were in attendance when the shooting took place but had left the area safely.
Areas that had been filled with crowds were empty after the shooting, with police and firefighters standing and talking behind an area restricted by yellow tape.
Eyewitness video on social media platforms showed chaos outside the Union Station, a 109-year-old Beaux Arts building that once served as a major US rail hub for passenger and freight traffic. It remains a major tourist attraction.
Videos showed dozens of uniformed police officers, weapons drawn, running into the building as scores of bystanders ran for cover in the opposite direction.
rm/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP)