The shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade on Wednesday stemmed from a personal dispute that turned violent and harmed innocent bystanders, cops said in a Thursday morning press conference.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said there was “no nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism” in the shooting, which broke out near Union Station as the Chiefs’ parade came to a close.
“This appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire,” she said.
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Graves said the ages of the shooting’s 23 victims ran from eight to 47 years old.
The lone fatality was identified as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old mom and radio DJ who was a popular figure in Kansas City’s Latino community.
Friends said Lopez-Galvan died while undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Police said she was a bystander and was not a part of the personal dispute that sparked the shooting.
The chief said three people were detained Wednesday and that detectives were still working with prosecutors to charge each of the suspects before they’re legally required to release them after 24 hours in custody without charges. By 4:30 p.m., one of the suspects had been released by police, and two others remained in custody but had not been charged.
The suspects’ names have not been released, but Graves confirmed that a viral video of Chiefs’ fans tackling a suspect as he fled the scene was legitimate. She praised those fans as heroes.
Other videos, including a clip from a BBC live broadcast, captured the moment that gunfire broke out—sending hundreds of Chiefs fans fleeing from Union Station.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas emphasized that Wednesday’s tragedy won’t stop the city from hosting parades in the future, adding that they’ll still host a St. Patrick’s Day parade next month.
“I do think that there’s a gun violence challenge in this community and many others, and there certainly is a gun violence challenge as it relates to major events,” Lucas said. “That, however, does not mean that Kansas City will stop having major events. We will do all we can to make sure people are safe.”
