Prosecutors have brought charges against two juvenile suspects linked to the deadly Wednesday shooting at the Super Bowl celebration parade in Kansas City, Missouri.
The charges were filed by the Office of the Juvenile Officer with the Jackson County Family Court late on Thursday.
“The juveniles are currently detained in secure detention at the Juvenile Detention Center on gun related and resisting arrest charges,” a court spokesperson announced in an emailed statement to NTD News. “It is anticipated that additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues.”
The court spokesperson provided few details about the two juvenile suspects. In line with Missouri state laws, court hearings will not be open to the public because the case involves juvenile defendants.
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The shooting broke out near Union Station on Wednesday mere moments after the Super Bowl LVIII-winning Kansas City Chiefs had passed along the parade route and the celebratory rally had ended.Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a popular local radio personality, was the lone fatality of the Wednesday shooting incident. Another 22 people were struck by gunfire during the incident, with victims ranging from 8 to 47 years old.
In comments to the press on Thursday, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said investigators believe the shooting incident arose from a “dispute between several people that ended in gunfire,” indicating the exchange of fire was incidental rather than a targeted attack.
“Preliminary investigative findings have shown there was no nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism,” Ms. Graves added Thursday.
The shooting took place as more than 800 law enforcement officers lined the parade route.
Three suspects were initially arrested.
At least one of the individuals detained in the aftermath of the shooting had been tackled by a pair of fans attending the rally as onlookers shouted that he had a gun. One of the bystanders reportedly recovered a gun that fell to the ground in the altercation.
Authorities have not said if the individual that fans had tackled is an active suspect or one of the two individuals now facing charges.
Investigators determined one of the three individuals who had initially been detained had not been involved in the shooting and has since been released, police spokesperson Alayna Gonzalez said on Thursday.
Ms. Graves said police “recovered several firearms” while responding to the shooting incident, but did not specify an exact number during her comments to the press on Thursday. She said investigators were not “closing the door” to the possibility that additional suspects may have been involved in the incident.
Police have not provided additional details about the types of firearms that they recovered.
“I am not going to elaborate on that just yet,” Ms. Graves said on Thursday.
When asked whether the shooting incident was gang-related, Ms. Graves said “that’s still under investigation.” When asked if any of the individuals detained following the shooting were previously known to law enforcement, the police chief said “that is also under investigation.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was in attendance at Wednesday’s parade and ran for safety when shots rang out, said the city is still planning to hold a St. Patrick’s Day parade next month.
“We have parades all the time. I don’t think they’ll end. Certainly we recognized the public safety challenges and issues that relate to them,” he said.
