More than 24 hours after shots were fired at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade and rally, the details of what led to the tragedy remain hazy.
Twenty-three people was shot on Wednesday afternoon Right next to Union Station, where the parade ends and the rally takes place, in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. police said Thursday.
The police said one of them was killed: Elizabeth Galvan, 43. She was a popular local radio DJ who went by the name Lisa Lopez-Galvan. His sister confirmed his death.
Police said the other 22 victims were between the ages of 8 and 47 and at least that is half Under 16 years of age.
Police suspect that there was an argument between several people ended in fire and said there was no evidence of terrorism or violent extremism.
Many witnesses explained chaotic scene as people run away.
Nick Bundy, 40, of Kansas City, was in the parade with his two children, his girlfriend and daughter.
He said his group decided to leave when the rally ended, but as they walked away from Union Station, “we heard gunshots, but it didn’t sound like a gun. It was like fireworks.”
Bundy said what sounded like 15 to 20 shots per two seconds were “very fast” and sounded “almost automatic.”
He said he saw a body on the ground and many wounded as he tried to get his group to safety. According to him, the police approached the place where the shooting took place.
Bundy described the scene as “absolute chaos” and said the misinformation flying around and the lack of cell phone service made it difficult to understand what was happening.
Witnesses tackled potential suspects to the ground
Witness Paul Contreras was seen in a video posted on social media, tackling the possible suspect to the ground. He said in an interview with NBC’s “TODAY” program he saw someone running in the opposite direction and “took it down”.
“It was just a reaction,” he said Thursday.
Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a press conference Thursday that two teenagers were arrested in connection with the shooting but have not been charged.
It’s unclear if law enforcement has detained the man Contreras captured.
The police initially said that 3 people were in custody. A police spokesman said the third man was released after it was determined he was not involved in the shooting.
Several firearms were recovered, Graves said.
‘Not now. This is not the place.’
Jacob Gooch, 37, of Leavenworth, Kansas, was shot in the ankle and suffered several broken bones. His 13-year-old son was shot in the leg and his partner was shot in the leg.
Gooch’s partner, Emily Tavis, 32, said she didn’t know he had been shot at first. She said she instead focused on finding help for Gooch and making sure all the children with him were safe because he couldn’t walk.
Gooch said in an interview that as they were walking out, he heard a woman say to someone, “Not now. This is not the place.” Then shots were heard.
According to Tavis, she and her stepdaughter, Gooch’s daughter, saw the man the woman was talking to pull out a gun. He said they were only about 15 feet apart.
“It was all very fast,” Gooch said. He, like many other witnesses, initially thought he heard fireworks.
Tavis said he saw a man fire his gun in a circular motion as if he were trying to “take the air out of the area” rather than targeting one person or a specific group of people.
Gooch said: “You never expect to be a part of something like this, but here we are now.”
Admitting he was probably in shock, Gooch added that it was difficult to understand what happened because of the lack of a known motive.
“It’s pointless,” he said. “You won’t understand it.”
In the chaos, he tries to escape to safety
Janelle Duncan, 52, was at a parade with a friend when they heard “swishing noises”.
“Some were shouting ‘duck’ and ‘run, there’s a shooter.’ Someone shouted that a woman had been shot. Then another boy shouted: ‘Come on guys, it’s fireworks. “False alarm,” he said in a telephone interview.
Duncan said she and her friend tried to get to safety as quickly as possible, “but everyone was running in different directions.”
“Nobody could move more than a few inches at a time,” he said. As quickly as they could, they “made their way to try to get up Main Street or onto the grass above. There was a big, tall fence, and everybody pushed and pushed to knock the fence down in half. and then we all climbed over the top.”
Duncan said women in the crowd were trying to grab their young children.
“Especially, he was trying to hold his little son’s hand and they kept almost getting separated … so we were trying to hold our arms so he wouldn’t get hit,” Duncan said. “Another mother was screaming with her baby in her arms. People were really kind and helpful and trying to help people who are more vulnerable. It was great to see.”
Lisa Felder described the panic she and her family felt during what she said was a “surreal” moment when everyone “stumbled over each other” to get to safety while no one knew what happened or where the shooter was.
Another woman, Bridget Barton, who was with her daughter at the parade, said she saw two men with guns and made eye contact with one of them.
He said he saw people being shot right in front of him. According to him, the sparks from the bullets that hit the ground covered his legs like “chicken pox”.
Barton said he was trampled while trying to protect his daughter. He said there was a footprint on the back of the shirt he was wearing to prove it.
She later found a bullet in her bag and took it to police on Thursday as possible evidence. Barton said no one searched his backpack when he arrived at the parade.
“My bag saved my life. That’s for sure,” Barton said.