Two juveniles have been charged with crimes connected to the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally, authorities said Friday.
A news release from the Jackson County Family Court said the juveniles were charged Thursday and are being detained in the county’s Juvenile Detention Center “on gun-related and resisting arrest charges.” The release said it is “anticipated that additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues.”
No further information was released. Defendants age 17 and under in Missouri are typically adjudicated through the juvenile system, which is far more private than the system for adults. Names of the accused are not released, nor are police documents such as probable cause statements.
In cases involving serious crimes such as murder, juveniles as young as 12 can be certified for trial as adults, said Lynn Urban, a professor who chairs the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department at the University of Central Missouri. Federal law prohibits the death penalty for anyone under age 18 at the time of the crime.
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A mother of two was killed and 22 people were injured by gunfire Wednesday afternoon, when shots erupted amid the throng of fans gathered at a rally outside Union Station after a parade through the city. Police Chief Stacey Graves said Thursday that victims ranged from ages 8 to 47, with half under 16.
Police initially detained three people but released one who they determined wasn't involved in the shooting. Police are looking for others who may have been involved and are calling for witnesses, victims and people with cellphone video of the violence to call a dedicated hotline.
The shooting outside Union Station occurred despite the presence of more than 800 police officers who were in the building and surrounding area, including on top of nearby structures, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and ran for safety when the shots were fired. But he doesn't expect to cancel the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parade.
“We have parades all the time. I don’t think they’ll end. Certainly we recognized the public safety challenges and issues that relate to them,” Lucas said.
Wednesday’s celebration was the third such parade since 2020, and the others had no violence. People packed the parade route, with fans climbing trees and street poles for a better view. Players rolled through on double-decker buses as DJs and drummers heralded their arrival.
The rally had just ended and music was still blaring when the shots began. Many people initially thought they were hearing fireworks. Some in the crowd hit the ground while others leapt over barriers and sprinted, some carrying children in their arms.
Eventually stunned rallygoers — many in tears — gathered their belongings, trying to figure out how to get home. Strangers comforted each other as police put up crime scene tape where moments earlier there had been a joyous celebration.
The police chief said 1 million people likely attended the parade, which occurred in a city of about 470,000 people and a metropolitan area of about 2 million, but stressed that the violence was wrought by just a handful of people.
“The law enforcement response was exemplary. Those in attendance also responded," Graves added.
Among them was Trey Filter, who was walking to the car with his family when he heard yells of “get him.”
Filter, 40, who lives outside Wichita, Kansas, saw a fleeing person, prompting him and another bystander, Paul Contreras, to try to tackle him. Filter and Contreras eventually jumped on top of the person.
“I don’t know what the hell I was thinking,” the owner of an asphalt and concrete company recalled. “We was like, ‘We got him.’ I’ll always remember that. And then they started screaming, 'There’s a gun!’”
Contreras of Bellevue, Nebraska, told NBC's TODAY show that he saw the gun fall to the ground and "knew right then and there, 'OK, he's got one weapon and this one's on the ground. He may have another one.'"
The gun fell near Filter's wife, Casey Filter, who picked it up. Contreras said police officers arrested the person when they came to the scene.
The slain woman was identified by radio station KKFI-FM as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the 43-year-old co-host of “Taste of Tejano.”
Lopez-Galvan, whose DJ name was “Lisa G,” was described by friends as a devoted mother from a prominent Latino family in the area. According to her bio on the station's website, music was "life and a source of happiness" for Lopez-Galvan, who also worked as a DJ for private events, playing at weddings, quinceañeras and at an American Legion bar and grill, mixing Tejano, Mexican and Spanish music with R&B and hip hop.
Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, donated $100,000 to Lopez-Galvan’s family through a GoFundMe campaign.
