Things to know about the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration

Jacob Gooch talks about being shot in the leg during Wednesday's Super Bowl victory rally for the Kansas City Chiefs while recovering in Leavenworth, Kan., Thursday. Gooch, along with his wife and his son, were among the more than 20 people injured in the incident. (AP)
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Updated 16 February 2024
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Things to know about the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration

  • Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and ran for safety when shots were fired, said the shooting happened despite the presence of more than 800 police officers in the building and nearby
  • The 22 people injured in the shooting ranged in age from 8 to 47, and half of them were under the age of 16, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference Thursday. A mother of two was killed

KANSAS CITY, Missouri: The shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration that killed one woman and injured more than 20 people appears to have stemmed from a dispute, police said Thursday.

Shots rang out at the end of the celebration outside the city’s historic Union Station. Fans had lined the parade route and some even climbed trees and street poles or stood on rooftops to watch as players passed by on double-decker buses. The team said all players, coaches, staffers and their families were safe and accounted for after the shooting.

Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and ran for safety when shots were fired, said the shooting happened despite the presence of more than 800 police officers in the building and nearby.

Here’s what we know:

THE VICTIMS

The 22 people injured in the shooting ranged in age from 8 to 47, and half of them were under the age of 16, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference Thursday. A mother of two was killed.

Radio station KKFI said via Facebook that Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the host of “Taste of Tejano,” was killed. Lopez-Galvan, whose DJ name was “Lisa G,” was an extrovert and devoted mother, said Rosa Izurieta and Martha Ramirez, two childhood friends who worked with her at a staffing company. Izurieta said Lopez-Galvan attended the parade with her husband and her adult son, a loyal Kansas City sports fan who also was shot.

Lopez-Galvan played at weddings, quinceañeras and at an American Legion bar and grill, mixing Tejano, Mexican and Spanish music with R&B and hip hop. Izurieta and Ramirez said Lopez-Galvan’s family is active in the Latino community, and her father founded the city’s first mariachi group, Mariachi Mexico, in the 1980s.

Eleven children were taken to a children’s hospital, nine of them with gunshot wounds, an official said. Three children were still being treated Thursday and all were expected to recover.

Eight gunshot victims were taken to another hospital Wednesday. Officials there said two were in critical condition Thursday and five had been discharged. Three of four people injured in the chaos after the shooting had been discharged.

One gunshot victim was in critical condition at a third hospital Thursday, an official said. Four people injured after the shooting were treated there and released.

THE WITNESSES

The police chief said the parade likely attracted 1 million people in the city with a population of about 470,000 people and a metropolitan area of about 2 million.

Two members of the crowd could be seen in a video tackling a person.

Trey Filter of Wichita, Kansas, said he was walking to his car with his wife and two children when he saw “a mess starting to unfold.” He and another man tackled a person and kept him pinned down until officers arrived. It wasn’t immediately clear if the person was involved in the shooting, but Filter’s wife, Casey, saw a gun nearby and picked it up.

Hank Hunter, a sophomore at a Kansas high school, and a friend ran when people started hitting the ground. After his friend got hurt jumping a barricade, a guard ushered him into Union Station, where Chiefs Coach Andy Reid consoled the teen.

Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith shared his WWE title belt to help calm a young boy. Smith, who sported the belt during the celebration, noticed the frightened boy, who was with his father. He told Good Morning America that he and long snapper James Winchester were among those sheltering in a closet and that Winchester “was very instrumental in keeping people calm.”

Gene Hamilton, 61, of Wichita, Kansas, said he was sitting in the area when he heard what sounded like a lot of fireworks and everyone was running. Hamilton said he found it unnerving that the upbeat rally music continued amid the confusion.

Manuel Vigil, 43, said he heard shots that sounded like fireworks as he posed for pictures with a group near where a band had played. It was so shocking that no one ran at first, he said.

THE INVESTIGATION

Graves said three people, including two juveniles, were initially detained and that several firearms were recovered. Later, a department spokesperson said one person was released and only two teenagers remained in custody.

Police did not release details about those who were detained or the weapons seized. Graves said police are working to determine whether other people were involved.

Investigators urged witnesses, people with cellphone footage and victims of the violence to call a dedicated hotline.

In a message posted on social media, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said she will use every tool at her disposal to get answers. “We will get through this together,” she said. “We will heal together. And we will fight together.”

CITY’S HISTORY

Kansas City has struggled with gun violence, and in 2020 it was among nine cities chosen by the US Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city matched its record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.

Mayor Lucas has joined with mayors across the country in calling for new laws to reduce gun violence, including mandating universal background checks.

VIOLENCE AT SPORTS CELEBRATIONS

Wednesday’s shooting is the latest at a sports celebration in the US. A shooting wounded several people last year in Denver after the Nuggets’ NBA championship.


DeChambeau, Crushers GC lead LIV Singapore at halfway mark

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DeChambeau, Crushers GC lead LIV Singapore at halfway mark

  • A second-round 6-under 65 has DeChambeau at 10-under through 36 holes

SINGAPORE: Entering Friday, Bryson DeChambeau is tied atop a bunched leaderboard at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore.

After shooting the round of the week, a second-round six-under 65, he sits at 10-under through 36 holes. The Crushers GC captain enters the weekend with a three-shot lead.

After beginning his second round with back-to-back pars, he birdied the third, fourth and eighth holes, making the turn in 32 strokes. His back nine was smooth-sailing until the par-four 15th, when he overdrew an iron off the tee into the harbor.

After taking a drop, he scrambled for a hard-earned bogey, protecting his lead in the process. And bounced back immediately, making a birdie on the 16th. For the round, he finished with a total of six birdies, an eagle and the lone bogey on 15.

“Focus on my golf, what I can control,” said DeChambeau of his mindset.

“I know it’s cliche, but you can’t get too wrapped up with what everybody else is doing and making sure I’m starting it on my lines the way I need to and rolling the putts on my lines like I need to. Barring that, I think I can give myself a good chance.”

DeChambeau’s closest competitors are three shots back at seven-under and include Thomas Detry, Jon Rahm, Louis Oosthuizen, Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee.

Detry of 4Aces GC is fresh off a runner-up finish at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong and has carried that momentum into Singapore. His round included a chip-in eagle on the 18th hole (his 16th of the day) off the back of the green from 37 meters away.

The Belgian remains confident heading into the final two rounds. “I’m up for the challenge,” he said. “It’s definitely a challenge out there, so anything under par is pretty good, and I managed to do that pretty well.”

Hong Kong winner Rahm continues to lurk dangerously on the leaderboard. The Legion XIII captain made 11 consecutive pars from holes five to 17 before finishing his round with a birdie on the par-five 18th to finish at seven-under.

“I played really good today. Felt like I played actually significantly better than yesterday, just little margins,” Rahm said. “Couldn’t really make many putts out there today. Made that one on six and from then on missed a lot of birdie chances.”

Oosthuizen shot a four-under 67 that included six birdies and two bogeys. The Southern Guards GC captain has been fueled by a hot putter and ranks fifth in the field in Strokes Gained Putting at the halfway stage.

“I tried to give myself as many birdie putts as possible,” said Oosthuizen. “I felt I saw the greens really good today, the lines, and rolled the putter really good.”

Westwood, in just his second start after returning from a wrist injury, continues to play steady golf. The Majesticks Golf Club co-captain shot a three-under 68 that included five birdies and two bogeys.

Lee, who is looking to become the first LIV Golf Wild Card to finish better than 12th in a tournament, shot a three-under 68.

Matthew Wolff, Marc Leishman and Charles Howell III all shot three-under 68s as well and are four shots back of DeChambeau at six-under.

On the team leaderboard, the Crushers GC surged to the top after carding a cumulative 10-under for the day. They hold a three-shot lead over the first-round leaders, Legion XIII.

The champions from Hong Kong, 4Aces GC, are just one shot back of Legion XIII and four shots behind the Crushers.