Fifteen people suffered life-threatening wounds,the Kansas City Fire Department said,and at least one person has died.
Police clear the area following a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football Super Bowl celebration.AP
The shooting sent terrified fans running for cover and marred yet another high-profile public event with gun violence.
“I’m angry at what happened today,” Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference in the US state of Missouri. Graves said three people had been taken into custody.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the prevalence of firearms and gun violence in the US made it difficult to provide complete security for any public event,even with several hundred law enforcement officers on patrol for the Chiefs’ victory parade and rally.
“This is absolutely a tragedy,the likes of which we never would have expected in Kansas City,the likes of which we’ll remember for some time,” Lucas said.
Footage shows a person being tackled by a crowd at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade following a shooting that has left at least eight people injured.
“Parades,rallies,schools,movies – it seems like almost nothing is safe,” he said,recounting how he was among those who ran for cover at the sound of gunshots.
“We became part of a statistic of too many Americans;those who have experienced or been part of or connected to a mass shooting,” he said.
All of the Chiefs players,coaches and staff who attended the victory rally were accounted for and safe,the National Football League team said in a statement. Pop star Taylor Swift,who is in a relationship with Chiefs star Travis Kelce,was not at the parade:.
Social media users posted shocking video footage. One user’s video showed someone apparently performing chest compressions on a shooting victim as another person,seemingly writhing in pain,lay on the ground nearby. People screamed in the background.
Another video showed two onlookers chasing and tackling someone,holding that person down until two police officers arrived.
Lisa Lopez-Galvan,a local radio DJ and mother-of-two attending the parade with her family,died during surgery after being shot,The Kansas City Starreported.
Lisa Lopez-Galvan died during surgery after being shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade.
“She was the most wonderful,beautiful person,” a decades-long friend told theStar. “She was a local DJ. She did everybody’s weddings. We all know her. She was so full of life.”
Lopez-Galvan,whose DJ name was “Lisa G”,was an extrovert and devoted mother from a prominent Latino family in the area,said Rosa Izurieta and Martha Ramirez,two childhood friends who worked with her at a staffing company.
Izurieta said Lopez-Galvan had attended the parade with her husband and her adult son,a die-hard Kansas City sports fan who was also shot.
Kevin Sanders,53,of Lenexa,Kansas,said he heard what sounded like firecrackers and then people running. After that initial flurry,calm returned,and he didn’t think much of it. But he said 10 minutes later,ambulances started showing up.
“It sucks that someone had to ruin the celebration,but we are in a big city,” Sanders said.
Lisa Money was trying to gather some confetti near the end of the parade when she heard somebody yell,“Down,down,everybody down!” At first Money thought somebody might be joking until she saw the SWAT team jumping over the fence.
“I can’t believe it really happened. Who in their right mind would do something like this?” she said.
“This is supposed to be a day of celebration for everybody in the city and the surrounding area,and then you’ve got some idiot that wants to come along and do something like this.”
Missouri Governor Mike Parson and his wife were at the parade when shots were fired but were safe,Parson posted on X. “State law enforcement personnel are assisting local authorities in response efforts. As we wait to learn more,our hearts go out to the victims,” his account posted.
After the Denver Nuggets’ NBA championship parade last year,a shooting took place in downtown Denver that injured two people,though police said they didn’t believe the incident was associated with the actual celebration.
Also last year,an argument resulted in shots being fired at a parking lot near the Texas Rangers’ World Series championship parade. Nobody was injured.
Areas that had been filled with crowds were empty after the shooting. Police and firefighters stood talking behind an area restricted by yellow tape.
Throngs had lined the route,with fans climbing trees and street poles,or standing on rooftops for a better view. Players rolled through the crowd on double-decker buses,DJs and drummers heralding their arrival. Owner Clark Hunt was on one of those buses,holding the Lombardi Trophy.
The city and the team each chipped in about $US1 million ($1.5 million) for the event commemorating Travis Kelce,Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs becoming the first team since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots two decades ago to defend their title.
After decades without a championship,the city is getting used to victory parades. Five seasons ago,the Chiefs defeated the 49ers for the team’s first Super Bowl championship in 50 years.
Medical personnel respond to a shooting at Union Station during the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade.Getty
That followed the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series in 2015,the city’s first baseball championship in 30 years.
That year,fans abandoned their cars on the side of the highway so they could walk to the celebration.
Then,last year,the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 and prophetically vowed they would be back for more.
AP,Reuters
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