“A dispute between several people which ended in gunfire”: the Kansas City police chief explained Thursday the origin of the shootings that left one dead the day before in this city in the central United States which was celebrating his Super Bowl victory.
“Preliminary findings from the investigation showed that there was no link to terrorism or domestic violent extremism,” Stacey Graves said at a press conference.
“As mentioned yesterday, we have individuals detained, two of whom are minors,” she added. Three arrests were announced on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of people were celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs American football team, who marched through the streets of this Missouri city after their Super Bowl victory on Sunday, when shots rang out near the train station parking lot, Union Station, near the end of the celebration.
The authorities counted a total of one death and 22 injured.
Lisa Lopez, a radio host whose death was announced by her station Wednesday evening, was 43 years old.
“We had one death on scene, eight in critical condition, seven in serious condition and six patients with minor injuries,” city fire chief Ross Grundyson detailed Thursday.
Among the injured, “more than half are under 16 years old,” he said.
Children’s Mercy Hospital reported treating 12 patients, including 11 children between the ages of 6 and 15. “Nine of the children were injured by gunshots,” a spokesperson for the pediatric establishment said in a statement, adding that the medical profession expected that all the victims treated would recover from their injuries and that nine ‘of them had already left the hospital.
“Senseless epidemic”
Police have again launched a call for testimony from anyone who “directly observed the shootings, has video of the shootings or is a victim of the shootings who has not yet reported.”
An FBI platform has also been set up to collect videos that could help the investigation.
Stacey Graves also praised those who “physically arrested a person suspected of being involved.” A video circulating on social media shows spectators running after a person wearing a hoodie before tackling them to the ground and immobilizing them.
The event adds to the long list of tragedies caused by firearms in the United States, which pay a very heavy price for their spread across the country and the ease with which Americans have access to them.
On Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden again called on Congress to legislate to curb gun violence in the country. Referring to a “tragedy”, the American president said he prayed “for those killed and injured in Kansas City”, but also “for our country so that it finds the determination to put an end to this senseless epidemic of gun violence which tears us apart.”
” Angry “
The country has more individual weapons than inhabitants: one in three adults owns at least one weapon and almost one in two adults lives in a home where there is a weapon.
The consequence of this proliferation is the very high rate of firearm deaths in the United States, incomparable to that of other developed countries.
About 49,000 people died from gunfire in 2021, compared to 45,000 in 2020, which was already a record year. This represents more than 130 deaths per day, more than half of which are suicides.
The United States Congress has not adopted an ambitious law for a long time, with many elected officials being under the influence of the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA), the leading American arms lobby.
The mayor of Kansas City, who was present with his family during the parade, said he was “angry”.
For Quinton Lucas, a parade to celebrate a Super Bowl victory, “is a day that many people hope to remember for the rest of their lives; and what they shouldn’t have to remember is the threat posed by gun violence.”