1 dead, 22 injured at Super Bowl shooting
CHICAGO — At least one person was killed and 22 others injured in a shooting during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City in the US state of Missouri, authorities said on Wednesday.
Stacey Graves, chief of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department, detailed the shooting at a news conference and said three people had been taken into custody. She added that fans might have been involved in apprehending a suspect, but could not immediately confirm that.
“I’m angry at what happened today. The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment,” Graves said.
Police did not immediately release any details about the people taken into custody or a possible motive for the shooting. Graves said firearms had been recovered, but not what kind of weapons were used.
“All of that is being actively investigated,” she said, adding that more than 800 law enforcement officers were at the scene.
“Shots have been fired around Union Station. Please leave the area,” the Kansas City Police Department said on X, formerly Twitter.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, who had been evacuated from the rally site, posted on X that she encouraged everyone to follow instructions and updates from the police, local media reported.
Call for action
President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates, according to a White House spokesperson. White House officials were in touch with state and local leaders, and federal law enforcement was at the scene cooperating with their local counterparts.
Biden called on citizens to back his call for Congress to ban assault weapons, saying that the deadly shooting at the Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City “cuts deep”.
“Today’s events should move us, shock us, shame us into acting,” Biden said in a White House statement.
The Chinese Consulate General in Chicago contacted the Kansas City Police Department and confirmed there was no Chinese citizen killed or injured in the shooting.
Mass shootings are common in the United States, where the guns people own outnumber the population.
According to the Gun Violence Archive website, 656 mass shootings occurred in the US last year, and 18,854 deaths were caused by gun violence.
So far this year, 49 mass shootings have taken place in the US, and 1,957 people have been killed by gun violence.