By Nick Ingram And Margery A. Beck in Kansas City - The Associated Press
Two men have been charged with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday.
Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays are charged with second-degree murder and other counts. They have been hospitalized since the shooting, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a news conference. Officials declined to answer whether the men were being treated for gunshot wounds or other injuries.
Court records lay out a basic view of how the shooting unfolded.
The men did not know each other before the shooting, according to prosecutors. They were among several people arguing when Mays “pulled his handgun first almost immediately” and several others did the same, Peters Baker said. Police say it was Miller’s gun that fired the shot that killed a woman.
Online court records did not list attorneys who could comment on the men’s behalf. The Missouri State Public Defender’s Office said applications for public defenders for the men had not yet been received by the Kansas City office.
The new charges come after two juveniles were detained last week on gun-related and resisting arrest charges. Authorities said more charges were possible.
“I do want you to understand — we seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day. Every single one,” Peters Baker said. “So while we’re not there yet on every single individual, we’re going to get there.”
Police have said a dispute among several people led to the shooting, which happened even as 800 police officers patrolled the celebration.
The 22 people injured range in age from 8 to 47, according to police Chief Stacey Graves. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two and the host of “Taste of Tejano,” was killed.
The shooting was the latest at a sports celebration in the U.S. A shooting wounded several people last year in Denver after the Nuggets’ NBA championship.
That led Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to wonder whether it’s time to rethink championship celebrations, even as he promised last week that the city will continue to celebrate its victories. Next month’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will go on as scheduled, Lucas said.
The Kansas City shooting occurred in a state with few gun regulations and a city that has struggled with gun violence. In 2020, Kansas City was among nine cities chosen by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city matched its record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.
On Monday, Missouri’s Republican-led House on a bipartisan vote passed a ban on celebratory gunfire in cities following debate that ranged from tearful to angry. A similar measure was passed last year as part of a sweeping crime-related bill, but GOP Gov. Mike Parson vetoed the legislation. He cited issues with other crime provisions in the bill unrelated to celebratory gunfire.
Banner image: FILE - Law enforcement personnel clear the area around Union Station following a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)
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Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
