KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A historic train station on the edge of downtown Kansas City became the latest setting for a mass shooting, when gunfire near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration sent terrified fans running for cover and 21 people injured – including at least eight children – and a mother of two dead.
The shooting Wednesday outside Union Station happened despite the presence of more than 800 police officers who were in the building and nearby, including on top of nearby buildings, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was present with his wife and mother and ran for safety when the shots rang out. out.
“Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe,” Lucas said.
Three people were arrested and firearms were recovered, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at an evening news conference. She said police were still trying to figure out what happened and had not released any details about those arrested or a possible motive.
“I’m angry about what happened today. The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment,” Graves said.
It’s the latest sports celebration in the U.S. to be marred by gun violence, following a shooting that injured several people in Denver last year after the Nuggets’ NBA championship, and gunfire in a parking lot near Texas last year. Rangers’ World Series championship. procession.
Social media users posted shocking video of police running through the crowded scene on Wednesday as people took cover and fled. One video showed someone apparently performing chest compressions on a victim while another person lay on the ground nearby, apparently writhing in pain. People were shouting in the background.
Another video showed two people chasing and attacking a person, holding him down until two police officers arrived.
Radio station KKFI said via Facebook that “Taste of Tejano” host Lisa Lopez-Galvan had been killed.
“This senseless act has taken 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 Martha Ramirez, two childhood friends who worked with her at a staffing agency. Izurieta said Lopez-Galvan attended the parade with her husband and her adult son, a die-hard sports fan from Kansas City who was also shot.
“She’s the type of person who would jump in front of a bullet for anyone — that would be Lisa,” Izurieta said.
Kansas City has long struggled with gun violence and was one of nine cities targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city tied a record with 182 homicides, most of which involved firearms.
Lucas has joined mayors across the country in calling for new laws to reduce gun violence, including mandating universal background checks.
Lisa Money of Kansas City was trying to collect some confetti near the end of the parade when she heard someone shout, “Down, down, everyone down!” At first she thought it was a prank until she saw the SWAT team jump the fence.
“I can’t believe it actually happened,” Money said. “Who in their right mind would do something like this?”
Kevin Sanders of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard what sounded like fireworks and people starting to run. After that first attack, calm returned, and he didn’t think much about it. But ten minutes later ambulances showed up.
“It sucks that someone had to crash the party, but we’re in a big city,” Sanders said.
University Health spokesperson Nancy Lewis said the hospital was treating eight gunshot victims. Two were in critical condition and six were stable. The hospital also treated four people for other injuries resulting from the chaos after the shooting, Lewis said.
Stephanie Meyer, chief nursing officer at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, said it treated 12 patients from the meeting, including 11 children between the ages of six and 15, many of whom suffered gunshot wounds. Everyone was expected to recover, she said.
When asked about the children’s condition, Meyer replied: “Fear. The only word I would use to describe what we saw and how they got to us was fear.”
St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City received one patient with a gunshot wound in critical condition, a spokesperson said.
Chiefs coach Rick Burkholder said he was with coach Andy Reid and other coaches and staff at the time of the shooting, and that the team was on buses returning to Arrowhead Stadium.
“We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally,” the team said in a statement.
Missouri’s Republican Governor Mike Parson and first lady Teresa Parson were at the parade during the gunfire but were unharmed. In a statement, he thanked security officers and first responders for their professionalism.
President Joe Biden, who was briefed on the shooting and received updates throughout the day, said the tragedy “cuts deep into the American soul” and called on Congress to take action to prevent gun violence.
“And I ask the country to stand with me,” Biden said in a statement. “To make your voices heard in Congress so we finally take action to ban assault weapons, limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, and keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business having them to possess or handle.”
Before the shooting, crowds lined the parade route, with fans climbing trees and street poles or standing on rooftops for a better view. Players rolled through the crowd in double-decker buses as DJs and drummers announced their arrival.
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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.