Eyewitnesses share the panic tale of deadly Kansas City Chiefs’ shootout scenario

A shooting at Kansas City’s Super Bowl parade on Wednesday left one person dead and 21 injured, including eight children. Witnesses described the chaos and fear that erupted when gunshots were heard among the crowd of fans celebrating the Chiefs’ victory.

People flee after shots were fired near the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade on February 14, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)(AFP)

‘Are my friends dead or not?’

Gabe Wallace, a student, said he was told by a security guard to “get over the damn fence right now, there’s a shooter”. He injured his face while hopping over the barricade and worried about his friends.

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“I’m literally thinking, most of my friends are dead,” he said.

The victim was identified as local DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan by her family’s friends. Social media videos showed police running through the scene, people fleeing, and some performing CPR on the wounded.

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Another video showed two people tackling a suspect and holding him down until the police arrived.

Paul Contreras, one of the tacklers, said he saw a gun fall out of the suspect’s hand. He said he was not scared, but aware of the risk.

“This just happened to be the Super Bowl parade,” he said.

The Kansas city is still in shock

Lisa Money, a Kansas resident, said she was shocked by the shooting. She thought someone was joking when she heard “down, down, everybody down!” until she saw the Swat team.

“Who in their right mind would do something like this?” she said.

Ian Johnson, a hot dog vendor, said he mistook the shots for fireworks at first. He saw fans running and some hiding under his tent.

Courtney Brown and her two sons were also near the stage when the shooting began. She said they were almost trampled twice and had to lock arms and huddle near a barricade.

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The city’s mayor, Quinton Lucas, said he was heartbroken and praised the law enforcement.

“When you have people who decide to bring guns to events … all of us start to be members of this club that none of us wants to be a part of, people who have been part of a mass shooting,” he said.

The police chief, Stacey Graves, said three people were in custody. She said she heard that fans may have helped catch a suspect, but could not confirm it.