At least one person was killed while 22 were injured in a shooting incident in Missouri during a parade celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl LVIII, earlier this week, US media reported.
Three suspects have been detained so far for investigation, according to Kansas City Police chief Stacey Graves who described Wednesday’s incident as a “tragedy”.
“There are a lot more people who are going to be forever impacted by what happened here today,” said Graves.
“We were here for a safe celebration and because of two bad actors – that’s why we are standing here today. My heart goes out to our victim who is deceased,” she added.
The victims were transported to several hospitals in the area, with eight suffering “immediately” life-threatening injuries.
“We had eight what we considered immediately life-threatening patients, we had seven with life-threatening injuries, and had six that had minor injuries,” Kansas City fire department chief Ross Grundyson told a press conference.
Notably, some 800 law enforcement officers were at the parade where almost 1 million fans were expected to join the celebrations. Video footage of the incident near Union Station showed people chaotically attempting to avoid being caught in the crosshairs of the gunmen.
“The security guard was like, ‘Get over the damn fence right now, there’s a shooter.’ When I was hopping over the barricade, my foot hit [it] and my face nailed the concrete,” Gabe Wallace one of the witnesses was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Post the shooting, players with the Kansas City Chiefs left the parade on buses while attempting to calm the scared children.
The American football club also released a statement, expressing its condolences over the “senseless act of violence”.
“Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all of Kansas City. We are in close communication with the Mayor’s office as well as the Kansas City Police Department,” read the statement.
“At this time, we have confirmed that all of our players, coaches, staff and their families are safe and accounted for. We thank the local law enforcement officers and first responders who were on-scene to assist,” it added.
The city mayor, Quinton Lucas lamented the attacks, saying he was “heartbroken as anybody”. Meanwhile, the White House said it was closely monitoring the developments.
(With inputs from agencies)
