Kansas City shooting: Two teens charged as children released from hospital

Trey Filter was standing among a sea of around one million people who lined the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade route on Wednesday when he heard the shots ring out.

The lifelong Chiefs fan initially thought it was firecrackers going off, before a sense of panic swept through the crowd.

“There was a huge commotion. It felt like there was a rat loose or something,” he told The Independent in a phone interview on Thursday morning.

Mr Filter, who was attending Wednesday’s victory parade with his wife Casey and their sons Gage, 15, and Levi, 12, said dozens of crowdgoers began rushing past them.

Read more from Bevan Hurley:

Wednesday’s shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade was the 47th mass shooting in the US of 2024, according to the tracker Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as when four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.

On Wednesday, 22 people were shot and one person — a mother of two and beloved radio DJ — was killed. Half the gunshot victims were under the age of 16. Police have charged two juveniles in connection with the shooting, officials said Friday afternoon.

At least 23 people were shot, including multiple children, in a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade near Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a press conference on Thursday that half of the victims shot in the attack are children while one victim – a 43-year-old mother-of-two – died.

So far, the investigation has found that the shooting may have stemmed from a dispute between people and was not terrorism-related, police said.

Prosecutors with the Jackson County, Missouri Family Court Division charged two juveniles in connection to the shooting, officials said in a statement on Friday morning. That news comes after officials detainedthree individuals in connection to the shooting. One of the three was released Thursday without charge.

Read more about those wounded in Wednesday’s shooting:

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn spoke to a 10-year-old boy who was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Read more about her conversation with Samuel Arellano:

Children’s Mercy Hospital was treating 12 patients after Wednesday’s shooting — 11 of whom were children and nine of whom suffered from gunshot wounds. On Saturday, the hosptial announced that all of them had been released.

“Again, thank you for your support and grace with our team members this past week,” Children’s Mercy Hospital told Fox4 in a statement. “Remember to take some time to care for yourself as well, especially our friends in the media that were at the parade/rally that day.”

University Health also is caring for three shooting victims, telling the outlet that one patient is in critical condition.

Wednesday’s shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade was the 47th mass shooting in the US of 2024, according to the tracker Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as when four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.

On Wednesday, 22 people were shot and one person — a mother of two and beloved radio DJ — was killed. Half the gunshot victims were under the age of 16. Police have charged two juveniles in connection with the shooting, officials said Friday afternoon.

Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith told ABC News he helped a child take cover in a closet during Wednesday’s shooting.

“There’s like a little kid in front of me, so I just grabbed him — just yanked him,” Mr Smith said. “Just told him, ‘You’re hopping in here with me, buddy.’”

“He’s scared, he doesn’t know what’s going on,” Mr Smith continnued. “I had the WWE belt on me the entire parade, and I thought, ‘what can I do to help out?’ I just handed him the belt: ‘hey buddy, you’re a champion, no one’s going to hurt you, no one’s going to hurt you man, we’ve got your back.’ We started talking about wrestling.”

Half of those shot on Wednesday were under 16 years old.

The team’s cornerback, L’Jarius Sneed, also said he tried to provide comfort to kids in the aftermath of the shooting.

“It’s very sad,” Mr Sneed told ESPN on Thursday. “Just for the kids. They are trying to celebrate something, a big accomplishment for us. We were just trying to celebrate it with them, and for that to happen is very tragic.”

The Kansas City Chiefs, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and other affiliated organizations have donated thousands to the #KCStrong fund, which will primarily be used to support victims and their families.

United Way on Friday told FOX4 that the Chiefs, Hunt Family Foundation and the NFL were donating $200,000 to the campaign. Mahomes and his foundation, meanwhile, have already donated $50,000, the outlet reported.

Read more on how Chiefs players are helping families through Wednesday’s shooting from The Independent’s Sheila Flynn: