SI:AM | Tragedy at the Chiefs’ Title Parade
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Here’s everything we know so far about the shooting in Kansas City.
In today’s SI:AM:
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At least one dead, many wounded
One person was killed and more than 20 were injured yesterday in a mass shooting that occurred near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade route.
Police said there were 21 people injured in the shooting: eight with “immediately” life-threatening injuries, seven with life-threatening injuries and six with minor injuries, according to CBS News. Children’s Mercy Hospital said it was treating 11 children between the ages of 6 and 15 for injuries resulting from the shooting. Nine of them had gunshot wounds, but thankfully none of the injuries were considered critical.
Kansas City radio station KKFI said one of its DJs, Lisa Lopez, was killed in the shooting.
The shooting occurred near Union Station in downtown Kansas City, shortly after players addressed the crowd to celebrate their second consecutive championship. One video circulating online shows bystanders tackling a suspect and pinning the person to the ground. Kansas City police said they detained three suspects in connection with the shooting, but did not specify whether one of them was the person seen in the video.
Police are still investigating the motive for the attack. CBS News, citing an unnamed law enforcement source, reported that “the shooting may have been the result of an argument or dispute that turned violent and did not initially appear to be the result of terrorism or extremism at this time.”
Asked how the shooting could occur with more than 800 police officers deployed in the area, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas offered a blunt response: “I mean, that's what happens with guns.”
“What you saw happen was why people talk about guns a lot,” Lucas added. “We had over 800 officers there staffed, situated all around Union Station today. We had security in any number of places. Eyes on top of buildings and beyond. And there still is a risk to people. And I think that’s something that all of us who are parents, who are just regular people living each day, have to decide what we wish to do about it. Parades, rallies, schools. Movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe.”
Yesterday’s shooting was the 48th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Lucas is right: Nothing is safe. There have been 197 instances of gun violence in the U.S. in the past three days, according to the Gun Violence Archive. They occurred in big cities like Philadelphia and small towns like Burlington, Wash., which was also the site of a mass shooting in 2016 and is located in the same county where a 2008 shooting spree left six people dead.
People like to say that sports should be an escape from politics, but incidents like yesterday’s are a reminder that it’s impossible to escape from these issues. Both sides of the political spectrum try to blame the other for America’s gun violence epidemic, but shootings occur all over this country every day, with little regard for things like political affiliation, race or economic status. I live an hour from New York City in a small city sandwiched between two of the richest towns in the country. One night last April, I was watching television when I heard gunshots from the park across the street from my apartment building. One man was wounded, and a stray bullet shattered the front door of the building next to mine. When I was 15, my neighbor and classmate was shot to death in his home on our leafy suburban street. Even in places that seem as safe as those, the threat of gun violence is inescapable.
“I am angry at what happened today,” Kansas City police chief Stacey Graves said yesterday. “The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment.”
They should, but they can’t.
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Doral Chenoweth/Columbus Dispatch
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The top five...
… things I saw last night:
5. Kyrie Irving’s hesitation that totally fooled Victor Wembanyama.
4. Pelicans color commentator Antonio Daniels’s reaction to Jordan Poole’s blatant carry late in the game: “Oh my god, such a carry!”
3. Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele’s save after his goalie lost track of the puck.
2. The one fan who rushed the court after Detroit Mercy finally got its first win of the season.
1. Stephen Curry’s full-court shot from the tunnel before the Warriors’ game against the Clippers. (He was really dialed in last night. He went on to drop 41 points in the loss.)
SIQ
On this day in 1987, PGA Tour pro Craig Stadler was disqualified from a tournament for an overlooked violation involving what object?
- A golf cart
- A towel
- A cigarette
- A water bottle
Yesterday’s SIQ: Wilt Chamberlain scored 41 points on Feb. 14, 1966, to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a title he held onto for nearly 20 years. Who held the record before Wilt?
- George Mikan
- Dolph Schayes
- Bob Cousy
- Bob Pettit
Answer: Bob Pettit. Chamberlain passed Pettit almost exactly two years after Pettit surpassed Schayes.
Pettit scored 20,880 points during his 11-year career with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks. But it didn’t take long for Wilt to pass him. Chamberlain set the new record near the end of his seventh season in the league. That should be no surprise. Nobody was able to put up points in bunches like Chamberlain. Pettit’s career high for points in a game was 57. Chamberlain surpassed that number 49 times.
