Kansas City Chiefs star Trey Smith has spoken out about the horror of Wednesday’s shooting that left one dead and 21 injured during the Super Bowl victory parade, revealing he and his teammates hid in a closet alongside civilians.
‘The day started just like last year’s parade. I just remember the guards quickly ushering us through the door, like, ‘hurry, hurry, hurry,'” Smith, the Chiefs’ right guard, told Good Morning America on Thursday.
“It’s, ‘OK, this isn’t a joke… this is a life-or-death situation.’ ”
Smith said he was forced to run for his life and hide in a closet while helping others get to safety.
“Right before I ran in, there was a little kid standing in front of me, so I grabbed him and pulled him in.” ‘You jump in there with me, buddy,'” Smith said. “I don’t know how many people were in the closet, maybe twenty plus?”
Trey Smith is pictured both before (right) and after (left) the shooting during Wednesday’s parade
Smith credited long snapper James Winchester with helping everyone stay calm in the closet.
“One of my teammates, my long snapper James Winchester, was instrumental in helping keep people calm,” Smith continued. ‘Eventually we get the green light to leave there. We end up walking to the buses.’
The Chiefs team buses were suddenly full of scared bystanders, including a scared child who was there with his father.
“I had the WWE belt with me the entire parade,” Smith said, referring to the oversized wrestling style strap that strapped around his waist. ‘I thought: what can I do to help him? I just handed him the belt, “Hey, you’re the champ. Nobody’s gonna hurt you, man, we got your back.”
“We’re just starting to talk about wrestling: ‘who’s your favorite wrestler, what’s your favorite wrestling match.’
‘He looked out the window and saw people reacting, trying to get out of that situation, so I just said, ‘please mate, this is yours.’
Fans flee after shots are fired near Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade
People take cover during a shooting at Union Station during the Chiefs Super Bowl parade
The 6-foot-4, 322-pound Smith said he was especially struck by the way children responded to the scene.
“I’m quite angry, it’s senseless violence,” he said. Children were injured, children were traumatized. I hurt for the families and the people affected, and for the city of Kansas City.
‘Hearts go out to the boys, we think and pray for you. But in the end, we will rise together and be strong.”
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.
An injured person is helped during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade
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.
People flee after shots are fired near Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, left, and Chiefs long snapper James Winchester, right, arrive at the victory rally. Smith said Winchester helped keep panicked citizens calm during the shooting
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 took 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.