KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mass shooting that unfolded amid throngs of people at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration, killing one person and wounding almost two dozen others, appeared to stem from a dispute between several people, authorities said Thursday.
Police Chief Stacey Graves said the 22 people injured Wednesday ranged between 8 and 47 years old, with half under 16. A mother of two was killed.
Police said they detained three juveniles but released one who they determined wasn’t involved in the shooting, leaving two in custody. No charges have been filed. 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.
“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.
The shooting outside Union Station occurred despite the presence of more than 800 police officers who were in the building and 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.
Video taken from a building overlooking the celebration shows thousands of fans clad in red Chiefs gear milling about in a park in front of Union Station. As shots ring out and repeat, they suddenly scatter amid screams.
Some of those who flee return to help people on a street, sidewalk and grassy area. People nearby continue to scatter frantically even after the gunfire stops, but fans farther away remain, apparently not sure of what has happened.
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, 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!’”
