Fans receive medical assistance after shots were fired after the celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs winning Super Bowl.
Credit: Reuters
Kansas City: One person was killed and at least 21 were injured in a shooting near Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday afternoon, turning a Super Bowl victory celebration into a scene of chaos as thousands of fans in red jerseys ran for safety.
It was unclear who was responsible for the shooting. Three people were detained, the Kansas City police chief said, and at least two of them had been armed, police said earlier in the day. Authorities were trying to determine whether one of the three in custody had been tackled by fans at the rally, referring to videos circulating online.
The police chief, Stacey Graves, said authorities had not yet identified a motive.
The shock of gun violence pierced an otherwise idyllic winter afternoon, with bright sunshine and temperatures in the 60s greeting a city ready to rejoice. Columns of fans, many wearing red, had lined the two-mile parade route, celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ second consecutive Super Bowl victory and third in five seasons, waving at players, coaches and team officials riding past in open-top red buses.
The parade — planned “with the safety and security of fans in mind,” according to the Kansas City Sports Commission — officially began at 11 a.m. and ended with a rally at Union Station, a century-old rail depot that has been redeveloped.
Around 2 p.m., shots were fired on the west side of Union Station. “I know one of the suspects was immediately pursued on foot,” Graves said.
Adrian Robinson, who traveled to the parade from Gary, Indiana, to sell T-shirts, said he thought he heard fireworks. Then, he said, he saw hundreds of people running down the street. A minute later, he said, the same people were running in the opposite direction.
“People were traumatized, man,” he said. “They were crying. Hyperventilating.”
The governors of Kansas and Missouri were both at the rally. Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas had to be evacuated, and she posted on social media that she was “out of harm’s way.” Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri and his wife were both “safe and secure,” the governor’s office said on social media.