Two juveniles charged in Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting
Two minors have been charged with a number of crimes stemming from the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade and celebration on Wednesday, the Jackson County Family Court Division announced on Friday. The exact charges were not announced, though more are expected to be levied against the pair of juveniles.
The pair of minors — who’s names have not been released — are being held at the local juvenile detention center. Authorities described the current charges as “gun-related and resisting arrest” in a news release.
“Pursuant to Missouri law, hearings are not open to the public as this alleged offense
involves juveniles,” the release said, in part.
In response to the announcement from the Jackson County Family Court, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker issued a statement indicating her office would be working the case soon.
“We regularly work with juvenile court officers on cases and we have worked with them on this case as well,” Bakers said in the statement. “Though we do not oversee or supervise the juvenile officers, we work closely with them. We expect to be at future hearings regarding theses individuals who were charged today in Family Court. We will continue to work closely with all authorities as the investigation continues. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnership with these juvenile officers. And we will continue to work closely with the police investigative team overseeing their investigation of this mass shooting.”
One woman, Lisa Lopez-Galvan, was killed and another 22 were injured as the shooting broke out outside Union Station, the terminus of the parade and celebration. Many of the victims were children, and the victims ranged in age from 8 to 47. A majority were under the age of 16, according to authorities.
Three suspects were originally detained by police in the wake of the shooting, but the third was later released after it was determined they were not involved in the shooting.
The impact of Wednesday’s shooting reached far
Kansas head men’s basketball coach Bill Self didn’t have trouble summoning the various locations that he recalls a mass shooting taking place — movie theaters, schools, concerts. And he’s now added Super Bowl championship celebration and parade to that lexicon of places that can’t truly be considered safe.
Tucked beyond the southwestern fringes of Kansas City, the city of Lawrence, Kansas, and the campus of Kansas University are less than an hour away from the current epicenter of the NFL and, this week, a horrific mass shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Self felt the horror from afar, and was saddened that another incident of indiscriminate violence marred what should’ve been a happy day for all.
“It was awful,” Self said. “I didn’t know about it live. A lot of people were obviously watching and knew about it live. I found out about it just a few minutes later. And I’m sure I knew a ton of people at the parade but I haven’t talked to those people, asking them ‘Did you go?’ or whatever. But yeah, just horrific. We’re in such a sad state, as everybody knows, that the most family-friendly, wholesome thing that you could do to make your city and look good and show your support of people that bring joy to you now has just been minimized so much because of all the safety issues that go along with it. But whether it’s a concert, parade or even attending a movie or going to school, these certainly aren’t looked at in the same way back when I was growing up. And it’s sad that it has become that.”
Self was asked about the highs of celebrating his two national championships as the Kansas head coach as he considered what it’s like for those moments to be cut down in an instant.
The head coach took a broader, more reflective tack to respond to the query.
“Even something that’s been transpiring in a grocery store, at a post office or in a school or now a parade or things like that, it makes you wonder if doing those things are really worthwhile,” Self said. “So I certainly hope that it can be improved and corrected and there are some things that can be done to make people more comfortable and wanting to live in a way where they don’t have to worry about the most innocent of things. But it certainly will change the outlook of many people and already has, but certainly yesterday was another indication that we’re not moving in a very good direction.”