The parade and rally celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory was a day of celebration marred by tragedy.
As the crowd of thousands began to disperse from Union Station, gunshots were fired.
More than 20 people were shot; one victim, local DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan, died at the scene. The mass shooting appeared to be “a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire” with no indication of a “nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism,” according to police chief Stacey Graves at a press conference the day after.
There were multiple Jewish community members at the rally when the shooting took place. Sarah Markowitz Schreiber, director of education and programs at the Jewish Community Relations Bureau | AJC, said she and Jewish community members Jamie Weiss Liemer and Colby Liemer attended the rally and left the area where the shooting took place about two minutes before it happened.
“As we walked away from the rally, we heard a series of pops, which I thought may have been gunshots, but we collectively commented that it must have been firecrackers…” Markowitz Schreiber said. “There was no crowd reaction or panic where we were; people kept walking normally. Then we began to hear sirens a minute or two later and saw several helicopters.”
Mentally preparing for news of a violent incident, Markowitz Schreiber did not know what happened until she made it to the Crossroads area and looked at her phone.
Kaitlin Birnbaum, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s events and engagement specialist, was at the event with her husband, 12-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. After the rally concluded, they headed into Union Station as part of the “friends and family” group (Birnbaum’s husband, Jeff, works for the Chiefs), anticipating that they would enjoy a reception before boarding a bus to Arrowhead Stadium, where they’d departed from in the morning.
Birnbaum and her daughter were in a restroom when they began to hear screaming and shouting, followed by both men and women running into the restroom.
“[At first,] I tucked my daughter behind me in a little corner… [there was] a lot of screaming, and then we heard that there was an active shooter,” she said. “You don’t know who the next person that’s gonna walk in is, and you’ve got your kid with you. I didn’t know where my husband and son were… it just all happened so fast.”
After what felt to Birnbaum like an eternity, security cleared the area, ushering her and her daughter to an area where they reunited with her husband and son, who’d also been sheltering in a restroom.
“It’s so heartbreaking; it’s so disappointing that something like this could ruin such a wonderful day,” Birnbaum said. “I think about [the victims] and their families every day.”
Multiple congregations and community organizations sent out messages offering support and condolences. Some include KU Hillel sharing a message on its Instagram page telling students that they can reach out to Hillel for support from staff, and Jewish Family Services (JFS) posting mental health resources on its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
“Following the tragic events that took place during the Chiefs Victory Parade and Rally, individuals may struggle with symptoms of trauma from their experiences. You don’t have to try and navigate this alone…” JFS’ posts read.