‘Two bad people doing bad things’: Local officers express frustration over shooting
By Riley Funk
Law enforcement officials in Buchanan County are sharing their disappointment over Wednesday’s shooting at what was meant to be a community celebration.
According to information shared by Kansas City police on Thursday, the shooting on Wednesday started from a dispute among several people at the rally.
Police Chief Stacey Graves also said so far in the investigation that police don’t believe the shooting had any tie to terrorism and that two juveniles are among those that have been detained after the shooting.
Capt. Tiger Parsons of the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, who has active shooter training, was monitoring the information in the incident very closely. He said determining that the incident began as a dispute between two people is an important piece of the puzzle.
“It takes the threat from the fans, the Chiefs (players), whoever would happen to be there to just each other,” Parsons said. “There was no directed threat to anybody, which is, that’s important to clarify that, because there isn’t somebody out there wanting to kill Chiefs fans. … We had two bad people doing bad things.”
On Wednesday night, both Kansas City Mayor Quintin Lucas and Graves reiterated their frustration that the tragedy occurred.
“I’m angry at what happened today. The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment,” Graves said in a news conference.
Parsons echoes the same frustration that many in law enforcement are feeling.
“My reaction is anger, because it’s supposed to be a celebration,” Parsons said. “It wasn’t just a celebration for a few people. It was a celebration for a community of fans, people all over the Midwest here that support the Chiefs.”
In the midst of the incident, some Chiefs fans sprung into action to stop who they believed was one of the shooters. A video that circulated on social media showed fans tackling a suspected shooter, which allowed law enforcement to step in.
Parsons said the actions of these Chiefs fans were nothing short of heroic.
“The greatest part of this story is the fact that citizens stepped in and took care of business … that’s the greatest part of this story. The rest of the story stinks. But we had gentlemen step up, take the shooter down, hold them in custody until the police got there,” Parsons said. “Those are the citizens that we need to be proud of and that’s who we need to model ourselves after.”
Police have confirmed that 22 people have been injured from the shooting and the ages of those injured range from 8 to 47 years old. One person was killed in the shooting and has been identified as Lisa Lopez-Galvan.
