Police appeal for info on Super Bowl parade shooting

Police in Kansas City are appealing for information from the public after gunfire killed one and injured at least 21 others after a Super Bowl victory parade.

The deceased victim was identified as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a local DJ.

Nine children are among the wounded and they are all expected to recover.

Police have not released the names or any further details about three suspects taken into custody shortly after the shootings.

Ms Lopez-Galvan hosted Taste of Tejano, a Tex-Mex music show, on community radio station KKFI. In a statement posted on Facebook, the station said: "This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community."

The nine children injured are aged six to 15 and are being treated at the city's Children's Mercy Hospital.

Although police have not publicly released any information on a potential motive for the shooting, a law enforcement source told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that the shooting appeared to be the result of an argument that turned violent. The source emphasised that it was not linked to terrorism.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said firearms had been recovered, but did not give further details on the type of guns used in the shooting.

"I'm angry at what happened" on Wednesday, Chief Graves said in an evening news conference.

"The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment."

In a Wednesday statement, Kansas City police said: "We need to hear from anyone in the vicinity of the parade shooting today that directly witnessed the shooting incident, has any video of the shooting incident or who was a victim of the shooting who has not yet reported being shot".

A phone line and online tip page have been set up to collect information from the public.

Police are expected to give further updates on Thursday.

More than 800 police officers were on patrol as hundreds of thousands turned out to watch a Super Bowl victory parade, which culminated in a rally outside Union Station in the middle of the Missouri city.

A stage was set up outside the station, which was decked in the red and gold colours of the Kansas City Chiefs, who won their second straight NFL championship on Sunday.

The rally had just ended at 14:00 local time (20:00 GMT) when shots rang out to the west of the station, which remains closed as the investigation continued on Thursday.

Video posted online showed members of the crowd tackling one of the alleged suspects on a street near the station.

One of the bystanders who stepped in, 46-year-old Paul Contreras, told NBC that he was at the parade with his three daughters.

"It was just a reaction. He was running the wrong way. There was another gentleman just screaming at the top of his lungs, 'This guy, tackle him'… I took him down," Mr Contreras said.

Chief Graves said she was aware of the video of one of the alleged suspects being tackled and that investigators were reviewing the footage to determine if the individual was one of the people taken into police custody.

The parade violence is not unprecedented - several shootings at sporting celebrations have occurred across North America in recent years.

In 2021, two shootings left three people injured in Milwaukee after the local basketball team won their first NBA championship in 50 years.

In 2020 two people were killed in Los Angeles after the Dodgers won baseball's World Series.

Four people were shot and injured in Toronto in 2019 during a victory parade for the NBA Raptors championship win.

"This is absolutely a tragedy, the likes of which we would have never expected in Kansas City and the likes of which we will remember for some time," said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.

In a statement, the Kansas City Chiefs organisation said it was "truly saddened" by Wednesday's violence. It added that its players, coaches and staff - as well as their families - were accounted for and safe.

Travis Kelce, the star tight end of the team whose relationship with Taylor Swift became a cultural phenomenon, wrote on social media that he was "heartbroken over the tragedy that took place today".

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