US: Super Bowl parade shooting leaves one dead and 21 injured, mostly children

A mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory rally on Wednesday left one person dead and twenty-one injured, many of them children. The incident caused panic among the sizable gathering of supporters.

According to reports, twelve people were being treated at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital, which accepts patients up to the age of seventeen. Nine of them were receiving treatment for gunshot wounds. The shooting occurred shortly after Chiefs players had spoken to a sizable group of enthusiastic fans gathered nearby.

Three people had been placed under arrest following the incident, according to the police, but the reason and circumstances surrounding the shooting were still being looked into.

Kansas City.
Atlanta.
D.C.

Today, six years since Parkland, acts of gun violence cut deep in the American soul.

Jill and I pray for those killed and injured today, and for our country to find the resolve to end the senseless epidemic of gun violence tearing us at the seams. pic.twitter.com/sqr5ww1G5O

— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) February 15, 2024

Kansas City fire department chief Ross Grundyson told a press conference that many of the victims had sustained “life-threatening injuries.”

“We had eight what we considered immediately life-threatening patients, we had seven with life-threatening injuries, and had six that had minor injuries,” Grundyson said.

After shots rang out, shocked fans scrambled to flee to safety as police worked to clear Union Station in a tragic end to what had been a joyous morning of celebration to salute the NFL champions.

Paul Contreras, who was at the rally with his three daughters, said he tackled and disarmed one of the suspected shooters before the police arrived.

“I got the right angle on him and I hit him from behind. And when I hit him from behind, I either jarred the gun out of his hand or out of his sleeve,” Contreras said on CNN. “I take him down, and I’m putting all my body weight on him. And then another good Samaritan comes over and is helping me.”

Victims were treated lying on the ground before being carried away on stretchers as crowds streamed past.

“I’m angry at what happened today,” Kansas City Police chief Stacey Graves said. “The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment,” the police chief added.

Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas was among VIPs at the event who were sent running for cover after shots rang out.

“This is a day that a lot of people look forward to. Something they remember for a lifetime. And what they shouldn’t have to remember is the threat of gun violence,” Lucas said.

The Chiefs meanwhile condemned the shooting as senseless.

“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 franchise said in a statement.

“Praying for Kansas City,” City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wrote on social media.

Vice president Kamala Harris also expressed her anger over the tragic incident saying the news reminded her of 2018 mass shooting incident on Valentine’s day in Parkland, Florida. In her tweet, she said, “I join all those across America who are saying the same thing we said six years ago: Enough is enough. This senseless violence must stop.”

As news broke of nearly two dozen people being shot following the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade, I was brought back to Valentine’s Day 2018 when we learned of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

I join all those across America who are saying the same thing we said…

— Vice President Kamala Harris Archived (@VP46Archive) February 15, 2024

- Huge crowds -

Just moments before the shooting, Mahomes and his teammates had been soaking up the adulation from a sea of red-shirted fans.

There had been no hint of trouble as hundreds of thousands of partying supporters feted Chiefs players along a two-mile (three-kilometer) route in a procession of double-decker buses, enveloped by a blizzard of red and gold confetti.

Local officials said more than one million people were expected for the parade, which was held in unseasonably sunny, warm conditions in downtown Kansas City.

Gun violence is not uncommon at large-scale sporting victory celebrations in North America.

Last year, 10 people were wounded after a shooting which erupted in Denver amid fans celebrating the Denver Nuggets’ NBA championship victory.

In 2019, four people were injured after gunfire broke out near a parade to honor the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Finals victory in Toronto.

Mass shootings are also common in the United States, where there are more guns than people and about a third of adults own a firearm.

The Chiefs were celebrating their third Super Bowl title in five seasons after beating the San Francisco 49ers in overtime in Las Vegas on Sunday to cement the team’s dynasty status.

The team’s most famous fan – music superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs icon Travis Kelce – was not part of the celebrations.

The singer, whose relationship with Kelce became a cultural phenomenon, rushed back to the United States on Saturday from the latest leg of her money-spinning world tour to attend Sunday’s Super Bowl.

As Kelce and the Chiefs celebrated on Wednesday, Swift was reportedly en route to Australia where she is due to perform in Melbourne on Friday.

With inputs from AFP