Kansas City tries to recover after mass shooting at Super Bowl celebration
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, SCOTT McFETRIDGE and JOSH FUNK
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — As Kansas City tries to recover after the mass shooting that turned a Super Bowl celebration into chaos, police are working with juvenile prosecutors to determine what happens next with 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 throng of fans gathered at a rally outside Union Station after a parade through the city. Police Chief Stacey Graves said Thursday that victims ranged from ages 8 to 47, with half under 16.
Police initially detained three juveniles but released one who they determined wasn’t involved in the shooting. No charges have been filed against the two remaining in custody. Police are looking for others who may have been involved and are calling for witnesses, victims and people with cellphone video of the violence to call a dedicated 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 court system determines the custody status of all juvenile arrests.”
The shooting outside Union Station occurred despite the presence of more than 800 police officers who were in the building and surrounding area, including on top of nearby structures, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and ran for safety when the shots 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’ll end. Certainly we recognized the public safety challenges and issues that relate to them,” Lucas said.
Wednesday’s celebration was the third such parade since 2020, and the others had no violence. People packed the parade route, with fans climbing trees and street poles for a better view. Players rolled through on double-decker buses as DJs and drummers heralded their arrival.
The rally had just ended and music was still blaring when the shots began. Many people initially thought they were hearing fireworks. Some in the crowd hit the ground while others leapt over barriers and sprinted, 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 crime scene tape where moments earlier there had been a joyous celebration.
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.
“The law enforcement response was exemplary. Those in attendance also responded,” Graves added.
Among them was Trey Filter, who was walking to the car with his family when he heard yells of “get him.”
Filter, 40, who lives outside Wichita, Kansas, saw a fleeing person, prompting him and another bystander to try to tackle him. Filter eventually jumped on top of the person.
“I don’t know what the hell I was thinking,” the owner of an asphalt and concrete company recalled. “We was like, ‘We got him.’ I’ll always remember that. And then they started screaming, ‘There’s a gun!’”
The gun fell near his wife, Casey Filter, who picked it up. At that point the fleeing person was under a dogpile about 10 feet (3 meters) away.
Police didn’t identify Filter as a man who intervened or specifically say whether the person he tackled was a suspect.
Hank Hunter, a Kansas high school sophomore, 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 Chiefs 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.”
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 extrovert 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 company.
“She’s the type of person who would jump in front of a bullet for anybody — that would be Lisa,” Izurieta said.
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.
Children’s Mercy Kansas City said all nine gunshot victims taken there were expected to recover. But Stephanie Meyer, the hospital’s chief nursing officer, said the children 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.”
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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.
