Tributes and calls for action to reduce gun violence poured in from NFL players, their families and political leaders after a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade Wednesday killed at least one person and injured more than 20 others, according to authorities.
The shooting occurred when the Chiefs, alongside their fans, gathered in downtown Kansas City, Mo. to celebrate the team’s win against the San Francisco 49ers at the Super Bowl LVIII.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “heartbroken over the tragedy that took place today. My heart is with all who came out to celebrate with us and have been affected. KC, you mean the world to me.”
Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, named Super Bowl MVP, posted on his account that he was “Praying for Kansas City.”
His wife, Brittany Mahomes, wrote in her Instagram story that “Shooting people is never the answer. Praying for Kansas City and America in general, this is rough.” She followed up the post with a longer message that read: “Highly embarrassed and disappointed in this. Super Bowl wins will never be the same because of this, it’s devastating. Lives lost and people injured during something that was suppose [sic] to be a celebration. Horrible and traumatizing. So many prayers going to the families involved.”
Meanwhile, the NFL posted on X that it was “deeply saddened by the senseless shooting.” The Chiefs posted a similar statement on its account and confirmed all players, coaches, staff and their families were safe.
Other Chiefs’ players, including Mecole Hardman Jr. and Trey Smith, posted that they were praying for those affected, with Smith adding a “huge thank you to the first responders who ran towards the sound of danger. You’re the ones who should be celebrated today.”
Other NFL stars expressed their anger at the incident and called for political action to address mass shootings in the U.S. Fellow Chiefs’ player Justin Reid posted on X that “we cannot allow this to be normal” and said he was praying that “our leaders enact real solutions so our kids’ kids won’t know this violence.”
Former NFL player Robert Griffin III shared his frustration about the pervasiveness of gun violence.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas posted on X that he was “heartbroken” and vowed to “continue to work hard to ensure assailants are brought to justice, our victims receive exceptional care, all families impacted receive our support and that we as a a city and country do all we can to prevent tragedies like this from ever occurring again.”
The Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting was at least the 48th mass shooting in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit tracker that defines a mass shooting as one that involves four or more people killed or injured, not including the shooter. As of Thursday morning, two more mass shootings had occurred––one in Baton Rouge and another in Memphis, according to the tracker.
Last year, the U.S. had the 28th highest rate of deaths due to gun violence in the world––an outlier compared to other developed countries in Europe and Asia where gun death rates were fractions of that in the U.S., according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which tracks all causes of death worldwide.
President Joe Biden posted a statement on X that “it is the time to act” and urged the public to tell Congress to “finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning or handling them.” Biden, a Democrat, helped pass a 10-year ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004 as a former Delaware Senator.
The President said he and his wife, Jill, were praying for those killed and injured in Kansas City, and “for our country to find the resolve to end this senseless epidemic of gun violence tearing us at the seams.”
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