Authorities in Kansas City said the deadly mass shooting that unfolded Wednesday after the Chiefs' Super Bowl parade appeared to stem from a "dispute" between several people.
A 43-year-old mother of two was killed during the mayhem, and at least 22 people were wounded, half of whom are children under the age of 16, Police Chief Stacey Graves said Thursday.
Police said they detained three people from the shooting but released one person they determined wasn't involved, leaving two juveniles in custody. No charges have been filed.
"We are working to determine the involvement of others. And it should be noted we have recovered several firearms. This incident is still a very active investigation,” Graves said at a news conference.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Investigators are calling for witnesses, people with cellphone footage and victims of the violence to call a dedicated hotline.
The shooting 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 structures, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and ran for safety when the shots rang out.
“Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe,” Lucas said. But he doesn't expect to cancel upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Throngs had lined the parade route before the shooting, with fans climbing trees and street poles or standing on rooftops for a better view. Players rolled through the crowd on double-decker buses, as DJs and drummers heralded their arrival.
The police chief said 1 million people likely attended the parade, which occurred in a city of about 470,000 people and a metropolitan area of about 2 million, but stressed that the violence was wrought by just a handful of people.
Witnesses described confusion as gunshots began, sounding to some like fireworks.
Social media users posted shocking video of police running through Wednesday’s crowded scene as people scrambled for cover and fled. One video showed someone apparently performing chest compressions on a victim as another person, seemingly writhing in pain, lay on the ground nearby. People screamed in the background.
Another video showed two people chase and tackle a person, holding them down until two police officers arrived. One of those men, Paul Contreras, recounted the moment he helped contain the armed man in an interview on NBC's TODAY show.
"It was just a reaction. He was running the wrong way. There was another gentleman just screaming at the top of his lungs, 'This guy, tackle him,'" said Contreras, of Bellevue, Nebraska.
"I wasn't sure until he came running, and I had a perfect angle to do what I did. I took him down. As I took him down, I see the weapon, the gun, fall to the ground. Whether I hit it out of his hand or it fell out of his jacket — because he was wearing a bulky jacket — I see it. ... So I knew right then and there, 'OK, he's got one weapon and this one's on the ground. He may have another one.'"
Radio station KKFI said via Facebook that 43-year-old Lisa Lopez-Galvan, co-host of “Taste of Tejano,” was 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 extrovert and devoted mother from a prominent Latino family in the area, said Rosa Izurieta, a childhood friend who worked with her at a staffing company. Izurieta said Lopez-Galvan attended the parade with her husband and her adult son, a die-hard Kansas City sports fan who also was shot.
“She’s the type of person who would jump in front of a bullet for anybody — that would be Lisa,” Izurieta said.
On Thursday, University Health Truman Medical Center reported that three people with gunshot wounds were still being treated there, including two in critical condition. One is a man who survived only because staff got him to the operating room within five minutes of arrival, Dr. Dustin Neel said.
St. Luke’s Hospital spokesperson Emily Hohenberg said one gunshot victim was upgraded from critical to serious condition.
Children’s Mercy Kansas City said three children remain there. It had received 11 children between the ages of 6 and 15, nine of whom suffered gunshot wounds. All were expected to recover.
Stephanie Meyer, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said at a Thursday news conference that the kids are scared and will need mental health support. The hospital's staff members are also struggling.
"They’re struggling just like you and I are, and unbelievably heartbroken that this has happened in our backyard," said Dr. Stephanie Burrus, the hospital's chief wellbeing officer. "And we all train for this, we’re all prepared to take care of these children. But it doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still not normal for people to see many, many people wounded by gunshots.”
Kansas City has long struggled with gun violence, and in 2020 it was among nine cities targeted by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023 the city matched a record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.
Lucas has joined with 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 gather some confetti near the end of the parade when she heard somebody yell, “Down, down, everybody down!” At first she thought it might be a joke, until she saw the SWAT team jumping over the fence.
“I can’t believe it really happened,” Money said. “Who in their right mind would do something like this?”
Kevin Sanders of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers and then people started running. After that initial flurry, calm returned, and he didn’t think much of it. But 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.
Hank Hunter, a sophomore at a Kansas high school, said he heard shots in the distance while watching the rally with a friend. Initially, they didn’t know what it was, but then “like a chain reaction” people started hitting the ground.
They ran to jump over a barricade and his friend slammed his head into the concrete, Hunter said. A security guard ushered his friend into Union Station, which was closed to the general public, as the players and coaches prepared to leave on buses. There, coach Andy Reid consoled his friend and "just tried to comfort him and calm him down.”
Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said he was with Coach Reid and other coaches and staff members at the time of the shooting, and that the team was on buses and returning to Arrowhead Stadium.
“We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally,” the team said in a statement.
Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson and first lady Teresa Parson were at the parade during the gunfire but were unhurt. 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 in the American soul” and called for 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 voice heard in Congress so we finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them.”
