Two juveniles charged in Kansas City Super Bowl rally shooting

[February 17, 2024]  By Brad Brooks and Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) -Two teenagers have been charged as juveniles in connection with the shooting that killed one person and wounded 22 others in Kansas City, Missouri, near a Super Bowl victory rally for the city's NFL champion Chiefs, authorities said on Friday.

The two suspects, arrested shortly after Wednesday's shooting, were being held at a juvenile detention center on charges of firearms violations and resisting arrest, according to a statement from Jackson County's Family Court.

Police have said both suspects are teens, but they have not been otherwise publicly identified because they are minors.

The charges were filed on Thursday, according to the announcement, which noted that further family court proceedings would be closed to the public under Missouri law.

"It is anticipated that additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues," the statement read.

Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a written statement on Friday that her office was working closely with family court authorities overseeing the case, though she noted her office had no authority over family court officers.

A spokesperson for Baker's office has said county prosecutors would start a process to charge the two minors as adults once they were charged as juveniles. That procedure could take days or weeks, the spokesperson said.

Police said the shooting erupted during a quarrel among a group of people as the Chiefs' rally wound down. Several firearms were recovered from the shooting scene.

The rally and parade preceding it in celebration of the Chiefs' Super Bowl triumph over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday drew over a million fans, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said on Thursday.

The sound of gunshots as the event was breaking up sent throngs scrambling for cover. Two fans attending the rally ended up tackling and detaining one of the suspects.

Police officers detain a person outside of Union Station following a shooting near an outdoor celebration of the NFL champion Chiefs' Super Bowl victory, in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. February 14, 2024 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Alyssa Contreras/via REUTERS/File Photo

Police said the 23 gunshot victims' ages ranged in age from 8 to 47. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 43, a popular local radio personality, was the lone fatality.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift, whose boyfriend - Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce - was attending the rally, donated $100,000 early on Friday to a GoFundMe page set up by the family of Lopez-Galvan. Swift was at the Super Bowl game but was back on tour in Australia when the shooting occurred.

Children's Mercy Hospital said it treated the nine children who were shot and all were expected to recover. Two other children with non-gunshot injuries and an adult victim were also treated there, the hospital said.

Graves, who said on Thursday that investigators had ruled out any apparent connection to extremism or "homegrown terrorism," also said that police were still seeking to determine if anyone else was involved in the shooting.

"We will not relent until everyone who may have played a part in these crimes is apprehended so that they may be punished to the fullest extent of the law," she said in a statement on Friday following the announcement that the two juvenile detainees had been charged.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas on Friday thanked prosecutors and police for their efforts, adding: "I know more investigation and potentially further charges are ahead as we pursue justice for all impacted."

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien and Brad Brooks; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Rami Ayyub, Cynthia Osterman, Bill Berkrot and Deepa Babington)

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