Two adults and two juveniles were charged in connection with the shooting, with the adults being charged with murder.[7]
Background
On February 11, 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII. On February 14, a victory parade and rally were held, with a municipal budget of almost US$1 million being allocated.[8] The parade ran 2 miles (3.2 km) from Sixth Street to Union Station, culminating with the team and dignitaries giving speeches at the rally in front of the building.[9] More than 600 Kansas City Police Department officers and 200 other officers were staffed around the events.[10][11] The crowd was estimated at one million,[4] including many families due to Kansas City metropolitan area schools canceling classes for it.[12]
Shooting
The shooting occurred at approximately 2 p.m. CST, immediately after the parade rally.[3][13] According to a reporter attending the rally, loud pops could be heard as the confetti began to fall and the Kansas City Chiefs and staff were inside Union Station.[14][15] Some witnesses claimed that they had heard an altercation before the shooting, with one reporting hearing a woman telling someone else "Not now, this isn’t the place."[4] One of the suspected shooters was chased and tackled by attendees.[15]
Some of the Chiefs players sheltered in place with attendees, such as Trey Smith and James Winchester in a small closet, and helped maintain calm until evacuation.[4] Another attendee who sheltered inside Union Station recalled being told by a security guard to hop the fence due to the shooter, and witnessed head coach Andy Reid and players calming down panicked children. Chiefs players and their families who had attended the parade were escorted from the area and taken back to Arrowhead Stadium shortly after the shooting.[16]
Victims
Twenty-three people were shot, resulting in one homicide and twenty-two injuries.[17] The only fatality was Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Tejano DJ[18] for local radio station KKFI, who died at the scene of the shooting.[19][20][21]
Four hospitals received 30 patients, of whom 19 had gunshot wounds.[4]Children's Mercy Hospital received 11 child victims aged between six and fifteen years old, nine of whom had been shot.[11][4]
Suspects
Three juvenile suspects were initially apprehended, two of whom were armed.[22][23][24][25]
One juvenile was released after it was determined the individual was not involved with the shooting. The other two juvenile suspects remain in custody,[4] and on February 16, the two were charged with gun-related crimes and resisting arrest, with additional charges expected to come.[26]
On February 16, a charge for unlawful possession was brought against a male adult who had picked up a gun from the ground around the time of the shooting.[5][27] The person was not considered to be involved in the shooting by law enforcement.[28][29]
On February 20, police apprehended two more male suspects, both adults, who were separate from the two unidentified juveniles.[30] Both men were charged with second-degree murder in connection of the shooting.[7]
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves stated during a news conference concerning the preliminary investigative findings[4] that the shooting appeared to have been a "dispute between several people that ended in gunfire", and that there is no indication of a "nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism".[4]
The Chiefs launched a fund called KC Strong in partnership with United Way of Greater Kansas City, with money raised going to support victims of the shooting, their families and first responders, as well towards violence prevention and mental health support services.[38] The Chiefs, the Hunt Family Foundation and the NFL donated $200,000 to the fund.[38] Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany Mahomes donated $50,000 to the fund, and visited victims of the shooting in hospital.[39] Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, whose relationship drew media attention during the season, each donated $100,000 to GoFundMe pages set up by the Reyes family and the family of Lopez-Galvan, respectively.[40][41]
Parents of shooting victims of the Parkland high school shooting on February 14, 2018, six years prior, expressed their dismay and lack of surprise due to lax gun laws, while discussing their own shooting anniversary.[42] Kostas Moros, an attorney representing the California Rifle & Pistol Association, argued that calls for gun control were misplaced, noting that at least two of the suspects were juveniles who cannot legally purchase or carry firearms.[43]
Social media users spread misinformation about the identity of a suspect, falsely claiming that a 44-year-old migrant named "Sahil Omar" was the shooter.[44] Posts published online used a picture of a person who was briefly held during the shooting, claiming it was "Omar" instead.[45][46] The person received death threats due the false claims.[47][48]