KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Kansas City tries to recover from the mass shooting that turned a Super Bowl celebration into chaos, police are working with juvenile prosecutors to determine what happens next to the two young people in custody.
A mother of two was killed and 22 people were injured by gunfire Wednesday afternoon when shots erupted amid the crowd of fans gathered at a rally outside Union Station after a parade through the city. Police Chief Stacey Graves said Thursday that the victims were between the ages of 8 and 47, with half under the age of 16.
Police initially arrested three juveniles but released one, whom they determined was not involved in the shooting. No charges have been filed against the two who remain in custody. Police are looking for others who may have been involved and are calling on witnesses, victims and those with mobile phone footage of the violence to call a special hotline.
Police spokesperson Alayna Gonzalez said in an email that police are working with juvenile prosecutors “to review investigative findings and determine applicable charges. The juvenile justice system determines the custody status of all juvenile arrests.”
The shooting outside Union Station occurred despite the presence of more than 800 police officers stationed in the building and surrounding area, including atop nearby structures, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was present with his wife and mother and ran for safety as the shots took place. were fired. But he doesn’t expect to cancel the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parade.
“We have parades all the time. I don’t think they will end. We have certainly recognized the public safety challenges and issues associated with them,” Lucas said.
Wednesday’s celebration was the third such parade since 2020, and the others did not involve violence. People filled the parade route, as fans climbed trees and street poles for a better view. Players rolled through in double-decker buses as DJs and drummers announced their arrival.
The meeting had just ended and the music was still blaring when the shots started. Many people initially thought they heard fireworks. Some in the crowd hit the ground, while others jumped and sprinted over barriers, some carrying children in their arms.
Eventually, stunned rallygoers – many in tears – gathered their belongings, trying to figure out how to get home. Strangers comforted each other as police put up a tape at the crime scene where a joyful celebration had taken place moments earlier.
The police chief said that probably 1 million people attended the parade, which took place in a city of about 470,000 people and a metropolitan area of about 2 million, but emphasized that the violence was caused by just a handful of people.
“The police response was exemplary. Those in attendance responded as well,” Graves added.
Among them was Trey Filter, who was walking to the car with his family when he heard shouts of “get him.”
Filter, 40, who lives outside Wichita, Kansas, spotted a person fleeing, prompting him and another bystander to tackle him. Filter ended up jumping on top of the person.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” recalls the owner of an asphalt and concrete company. “We were like, ‘We got him.’ I will always remember that. And then they started shouting, ‘There’s a gun!’”
The gun fell next to his wife, Casey Filter, who picked it up. At the time, the fleeing individual was under a dog pile about 10 feet away.
Police have not identified Filter as a man who intervened or specifically said whether the person he tackled was a suspect.
Hank Hunter, a sophomore from Kansas, said he heard shots in the distance while watching the rally with a friend. At first they didn’t know what it was, but then people started hitting the ground “like a chain reaction.”
They ran to jump a barricade and his friend hit his head on the concrete, Hunter said. A security guard led his friend to Union Station, which was closed to the general public, as the Chiefs players and coaches prepared to leave on buses. There, coach Andy Reid comforted his friend and “just tried to comfort him and calm him down.”
The slain woman was identified by radio station KKFI-FM as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, host of “Taste of Tejano.”
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.
“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.
Children’s Mercy Kansas City said all nine gunshot victims taken there were expected to recover. But Stephanie Meyer, the hospital’s charge nurse, said the children are scared and need mental health care. The hospital employees are also having a hard time.
“They are struggling just as much as you and I are, and are incredibly heartbroken that this happened in our backyard,” said Dr. Stephanie Burrus, the hospital’s chief wellness officer. “And we’re all training for this, we’re all prepared to take care of these kids. But it doesn’t change the fact that it is still not normal to see a lot of people injured by gunfire.”
___
McFetridge reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Jim Salter in St. Louis and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed.