2 die, 15 hurt in shooting at bar in Kansas City

Two people were dead and 15 wounded after a gunman opened fire outside a Kansas City bar in a “chaotic scene” as the city celebrated its football team’s big victory hours earlier.

Officers who arrived at the scene outside 9ine Ultra Lounge just before midnight Sunday found the bodies of a man and a woman, police said in a statement. Fifteen other people were treated at hospitals, and three were listed in critical condition, police said.

“We believe the shooter is the deceased adult male,” the statement said. “The circumstances that lead to this shooting are unknown.”

Detectives and crime scene investigators were collecting evidence and talking with witnesses to determine what happened, the statement said.

On Sunday, the Chiefs claimed a spot in the Super Bowl by beating the Tennessee Titans in the AFC title game. It’s the Chiefs first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years.

“It just put such a tragic end to such a wonderful day in Kansas City,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said at the scene, referencing the win.

“It’s just hard to stand here and talk about this kind of tragedy on really one of the best days Kansas City has had in a long time.”

Kansas City Police Capt. David Jackson said the gunman opened fire on a line of people outside the bar. He said investigators had not determined whether the victims were random or whether the gunman had targeted someone or a group.

“Our greatest challenges remain even this morning in our community,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “Thankful security appears to have kept the situation from being even worse.”