Speaking to reporters for the first time since the deadly mass shooting at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2024 Super Bowl parade, Andy Reid made a plea to the city’s youth.
“You are our future,” the Chiefs head coach, 65, told reporters at a news conference Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “And as great as we can make this place, we want to do it. We can turn this, which was negative, into a real positive. With just a little togetherness and love, we can solve many problems.”
In the shooting on February 14, one woman was killed and 22 were wounded. According to local authorities, more than half of the victims were under the age of 16.
Police later arrested and charged Dominic M. Miller, who is 18 or 19, and Lyndell Mays, who is 23, with second-degree murder. Meanwhile, two juveniles allegedly involved in the shooting were also arrested and charged with “weapons-related” offenses.
All patients discharged from Children’s Mercy Hospital after Chiefs Parade shooting: ‘Great news’
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Stacy Revere/Getty
On the day of the shooting, Reid was among those who immediately comforted the children at the scene. “Andy Reid was trying to comfort me, which was nice,” one teenager recalled Kansas City Star. “He kind of hugged me, just like, ‘You okay, man? Are you OK? Just breathe, please.’ He was very nice and all that.”
The teenager added that the head coach – who is known as “Big Red” – then “went to check on other people”.
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A sign made of chairs reads “KC STRONG” Thursday afternoon, Feb. 15, 2024, outside Union Station, the site of a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally on Wednesday.
Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty
A few days later, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, visited the local Children’s Mercy Hospital to meet the two young sisters who were shot at the parade. “At a time when they are traumatized, sad and worried, the surprise appearance of Patrick and Brittany Mahomes brought their first smile to their faces since the tragedy,” the family said in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Although they will be wearing a cast for several months, they are excited to show their loved ones that Patrick signed their cast,” they continued.
‘Saw 2 people bleeding’: Witnesses describe terror, confusion during shooting near Chiefs Super Bowl parade
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Police and medical personnel respond to a shooting at Union Station during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LVIII victory parade on February 14, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. Several people were shot and two people were taken into custody after a rally celebrating the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory.
Jamie Squire/Getty
Reid’s comments during Tuesday’s news conference at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis “marked the first time anyone from [Chiefs] organization has not spoken publicly” since the shooting, the AP reported. The outlet noted that “the team had previously issued a written statement.”
During the conference, Reid also expressed his condolences for Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the 43-year-old mother of two who was killed in the shooting. “I want to share my condolences with the Galvan and Lopez families on the loss of Lisa and with the people of Kansas City,” Reid told reporters, asking them to hold off on football-related questions until he spoke about the fatal shooting.
He added: “She was a personality there, and above all a very good human being. We will all miss her, as I know her family will.”
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