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

A day of jubilant celebration was plunged into chaos on Wednesday after shots were fired at a victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs in Missouri, following their Super Bowl victory.

Hundreds of police officers swarmed the scene at Union Station as panicked fans ran, with some later carried out on stretchers.

Police said one person is dead and 22 others suffered gunshot wounds, including 11 children.

Prosecutors with the Jackson County, Missouri Family Court Division have charged two juveniles in relation to the shooting, according to a Friday afternoon statement.

Here’s what we know so far about the incident:

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.

Three individuals were detained in connection to the shooting and firearms were also recovered from the scene. One of the three was later released without charge.

All of those detained were juveniles.

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Gunshots were reported at around 2pm on Wednesday in Kansas City, as the rally to celebrate the Chiefs’ victory came to a close.

Footage shared online showed dozens of law enforcement officials running towards Union Station, with some drawing weapons. Officers with sniper rifles were also seen posted on the surrounding rooftops.

Around 100 police vehicles were reported to be in the area in the moments following the shooting, according to CBS.

Fans were urged to exit the area as quickly as possible and children were separated from their parents in the ensuing scramble. Reunification stations were later set up inside the station.

Pictures showed wounded fans being helped away from the scene, some being carried out on stretchers.

Lisa Money of Kansas City was trying to gather some confetti near the end of the parade when she heard somebody yell, “down, down, everybody down!” Ms Money thought somebody might be joking until she saw the SWAT team jumping over the fence.

“I can’t believe it really happened. Who in their right mind would do something like this?” she told The Associated Press. “This is supposed to be a day of celebration for everybody in the city and the surrounding area and then you’ve got some idiot that wants to come along and do something like this.”

Kevin Sanders, 53, of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers and then people running, adding that 10 minutes later, ambulances had started showing up.

“It sucks that someone had to ruin the celebration, but we are in a big city,” Mr Sanders said.

Following the shooting, Swift has reached out and donated $100,000 to the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the 44-year-old woman who was shot and killed at the parade.

The Grammy winner wrote a poignant message on the GoFundMe page created with the goal of raising an additional $75,000 for the “Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan Memorial”.

“Sending my deepest sympathies and condolences in the wake of your devastating loss. With love, Taylor Swift,” her comment read.

Though the goal was set to $75,000, the page has already brought in $221,384 in donations. Swift started by sending $50,000, then sent an additional $50,000 approximately eight minutes later. The “Anti-Hero” singer was not at the event in Kansas City due to a scheduled Eras Tour show in Australia.

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The Missouri shooting that has left dozens injured and one dead marks the 48th mass shooting in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as when four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter.

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.

A 10-year-old who survived the shooting was excited to see the players in person; Patrick Mahomes is his favourite.

Soon, though, the elation of the day was marred by gunshots – and Samuel felt a biting pain under his arm as training from the active shooter drills at school kicked in.

His grandfather and uncle were close to him, and they soon made their way to hide under a trailer with several other people.

“Everybody was running, losing their shoes, losing their clothes,” Samuel said.

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