KANSAS CITY, Mo: A historic railway station on the edge of downtown Kansas City became the latest backdrop for a mass shooting as gunfire near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration sent terrified fans scrambling for cover and left 21 people wounded — including at least eight children — and a mother of two dead.
Wednesday’s shooting outside Union Station happened despite the presence of more than 800 police officers who were in the building and nearby, including on top of nearby structures, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and ran for safety when the shots rang out.
“Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe,” Lucas said.
Three people were detained and firearms were recovered, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at an evening news conference. She said police were still piecing together what happened and did not release details about those who were detained or a possible motive.
“I’m angry at what happened today. The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment,” Graves said.
It is the latest sports celebration in the US to be marred by gun violence, following a shooting that wounded several people last year in Denver after the Nuggets’ NBA championship, and gunfire last year at a parking lot near the Texas Rangers’ World Series championship parade.
Social media users posted shocking video of police running through Wednesday’s crowded scene as people scrambled for cover and fled. One video showed someone apparently performing chest compressions on a victim as another person, seemingly writhing in pain, lay on the ground nearby. People screamed in the background.
Another video showed two people chase and tackle a person, holding them down until two police officers arrived. In an interview Thursday with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Trey Filter of Wichita, Kansas, said he saw someone being chased and took action.
“I couldn’t see much. I heard, ‘Get ‘em!’ I saw a flash next to me. And I remember I jumped and remember thinking, ‘I hope this is the fool they were talking about,’” he said. “They started yelling that, ‘There’s a gun, there’s a gun!’“
Filter said he and another man kept the person pinned down until officers arrived. “I remember the officers pulling my feet off of him and at that point I was just looking for my wife and kids.” It was not immediately clear if the person he held down was involved in the shooting, but Filter’s wife, Casey, saw a gun nearby and picked it up,
“There honestly was not much to think about except just my husband and my kids,” Casey Filter said. “And then a gun I saw obviously, there. I was just wanting everyone to be safe. That was my main concern.”
The woman killed in the shooting was identified by radio station KKFI as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, host of “Taste of Tejano.”
“This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community,” KKFI said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Lopez-Galvan, whose DJ name was “Lisa G,” was an extrovert and devoted mother from a prominent Latino family in the area, said Rosa Izurieta and Martha Ramirez, two childhood friends who worked with her at a staffing company. Izurieta said Lopez-Galvan attended the parade with her husband and her adult son, a die-hard Kansas City sports fan who also was shot.
“She’s the type of person who would jump in front of a bullet for anybody — that would be Lisa,” Izurieta said.
Kansas City has long struggled with gun violence, and in 2020 it was among nine cities targeted by the US Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023 the city matched a record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.
Lucas has joined with mayors across the country in calling for new laws to reduce gun violence, including mandating universal background checks.
Lisa Money of Kansas City was trying to gather some confetti near the end of the parade when she heard somebody yell, “Down, down, everybody down!” At first she thought it might be a joke, until she saw the SWAT team jumping over the fence.
“I can’t believe it really happened,” Money said. “Who in their right mind would do something like this?”
Kevin Sanders of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers and then people started running. After that initial flurry, calm returned, and he didn’t think much of it. But 10 minutes later, ambulances started showing up.
“It sucks that someone had to ruin the celebration, but we are in a big city,” Sanders said.
University Health spokesperson Nancy Lewis said the hospital was treating eight gunshot victims. Two were in critical condition and six were stable. The hospital also was treating four people for other injuries resulting from the chaos after the shooting, Lewis said.
Stephanie Meyer, chief nursing officer for Children’s Mercy Kansas City, said it was treating 12 patients from the rally, including 11 children between the ages of 6 and 15, many of whom suffered gunshot wounds. All were expected to recover, she said.
When asked about the condition of the children, Meyer responded: “Fear. The one word I would use to describe what we saw and how they came to us was fear.”
St. Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City received one gunshot patient in critical condition, a spokesperson said.
Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said he was with coach Andy Reid and other coaches and staff members at the time of the shooting, and that the team was on buses and returning to Arrowhead Stadium.
“We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally,” the team said in a statement.
Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson and first lady Teresa Parson were at the parade during the gunfire but were unhurt. In a statement, he thanked security officers and first responders for their professionalism.
President Joe Biden, who was briefed on the shooting and received updates throughout the day, said the tragedy “cuts deep in the American soul” and called for Congress to take action to prevent gun violence.
“And I ask the country to stand with me,” Biden said in a statement. “To make your voice heard in Congress so we 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 them or handling them.”
Throngs had lined the parade route before the shooting, with fans climbing trees and street poles or standing on rooftops for a better view. Players rolled through the crowd on double-decker buses, as DJs and drummers heralded their arrival.
Gunfire at Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration kills 1 and wounds nearly two dozen, including children
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Gunfire at Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration kills 1 and wounds nearly two dozen, including children
- Woman killed in the shooting was identified by radio station KKFI as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, host of “Taste of Tejano”
- Joe Biden, who was briefed on the shooting and received updates throughout the day, said the tragedy “cuts deep in the American soul”
Holocaust survivor questioned by UK police after laying flowers at Gaza protest
- Stephen Kapos, 87, called on British government to condemn Israel, cease arms exports
- Politicians, campaigners, Holocaust survivors, lawyers condemn police over ‘repressive and heavy-handed’ arrests
LONDON: A Holocaust survivor was questioned by police after laying flowers in London’s Trafalgar Square to commemorate Palestinians killed in Gaza.
Stephen Kapos, 87, took part in a demonstration in the UK capital on Jan. 18. He was among nine people later questioned by the Metropolitan Police, after 77 others were arrested in what critics say was an example of “repressive and heavy-handed policing.”
Kapos survived the Holocaust after Nazi Germany occupied his home country of Hungary. He lived in hiding in Budapest as a child, losing his mother in the process. His father was imprisoned in the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
After questioning by police, Kapos told The Independent that he was “proud” to demonstrate in support of the Palestinian people, adding that members of his family accompanied him on protests.
Speaking outside Charing Cross Police Station in central London, he said he wanted to dispel ideas that “there is solid support from all Jews” for Israel’s actions.
“The sort of killing that’s going on, it’s unbearable to watch and one wonders where it’s leading to because there is no defence to speak of. They are defenceless people out in the open,” Kapos, surrounded by supporters including other Holocaust survivors and their relatives, told The Independent.
“Their homes have been bombed to smithereens and they are in tents and now they are going to be bombed.
“It’s unbearable and I don’t understand how the world can stand it. And, I’m ashamed of our government and everybody else who facilitates it and enables it.”
Kapos called for the UK government to condemn Israel and immediately suspend military contracts with the country.
“They should at the very minimum condemn Israel’s actions, which they don’t do, and immediately stop all supplies of armaments and any other logistical and information support that they do give,” he said.
“All that should be stopped immediately because there’s no doubt about this being an atrocity and international crime, what’s going on, what’s perpetrated by Israel. So, how can you hesitate in the face of that?”
Kapos added that protesting would “make it clear that all this will have electoral consequences” for the UK government, stressing that marches in support of the Palestinians “are not hate marches” and “are not no-go areas for Jews, which is again claimed.”
Dr. Agnes Kory, another Holocaust survivor who stood with Kapos, said: “In the name of a Holocaust survivor, which is me, and a Holocaust researcher, which is also me, I say no, not in our names, and I have to be at the forefront of peace for Palestine movements.”
Mark Etkind, co-organizer of Holocaust Survivors and Descendants Against the Gaza Genocide, described the behavior of the Metropolitan Police as “terrifying, not just for the Palestine movement, but for anyone who wants to protest and believes in British democracy.”
The Metropolitan Police did not disclose why Kapos had been questioned, and said protesters were detained at the march on Jan. 18 for a breach of the Public Order Act.
A group of more than 50 politicians, trade unionists and lawyers wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in the aftermath of the 77 arrests to complain about the behavior of the police.
Another group of around 40 Holocaust survivors wrote an open letter condemning the treatment of Kapos.
“Any repression of the right to protest is bad enough — but to persecute a Jewish 87-year-old whose Holocaust experiences compel him to speak out against the Gaza genocide, is quite appalling,” the group said.
South Sudan suffering worst cholera outbreak in 20 years: UNICEF
- South Sudan reporting almost 700 deaths in a six month period
NAIROBI: South Sudan is enduring its worst cholera outbreak in two decades, the United Nations said Monday, with the country reporting almost 700 deaths in a six month period.
The deeply impoverished nation — despite its major oil deposits — has been plagued by insecurity since declaring independence in 2011.
Parts of the country have lately seen fresh waves of violence, with clashes between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, First Vice President Riek Machar, displacing tens of thousands.
UNICEF said that 40,000 cholera cases were reported from the end of September to March 18, “including 694 deaths country-wide, its worst outbreak in 20 years.”
It said half the cases were children under 15.
South Sudan and Angola were facing the most severe of several outbreaks across eastern and southern Africa, the agency said.
Angola reported over 7,500 cases, including 294 deaths from 7 January 2025 to 18 March 2025, UNICEF said, warning there were “high risks for further escalation.”
Earlier this month the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan said 50,000 people had been displaced since February as violence flared in northeastern Upper Nile State.
It said a cholera treatment unit in the Upper Nile State’s Nasir county had closed, with 23 humanitarian workers forced to leave.
The region has been the main focus of clashes that are threatening a fragile power-sharing agreement between Kiir and Machar.
South Sudan has seen a steady increase in cholera — an acute form of diarrhea that is treatable with antibiotics and hydration, but which can be deadly if untreated — over the past three years.
In 2022 the country marked its first resurgence in five years, following an outbreak between June 2016 and December 2017 that killed 436 people.
In December, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned South Sudan was seeing “alarming and rapid increase” in the disease.
It said 92 people had died following an outbreak in Unity state, and that it had treated over 1,210 people in just four weeks in Bentiu city.
Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief
- She warned that without more funding there will be an additional 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths in the next four years
GENEVA: The sudden halt to US foreign aid funding has been “devastating,” the UNAIDS chief said Monday, warning that without more funding, millions more will die and the global AIDS pandemic will resurge.
The United States has historically been the world’s largest donor of humanitarian assistance, but President Donald Trump has slashed international aid since returning to the White House two months ago.
“It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding over time, but the sudden withdrawal of life-saving support is having a devastating impact,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told reporters in Geneva.
“We urge for a reconsideration and an urgent restoration of services, life-saving services.”
She warned that without more funding, “there will be an additional... 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths” in the next four years.
At the last count, in 2023, some 600,000 AIDS-related deaths were registered globally, she pointed out.
“So you’re talking of a 10-fold increase.”
At the same time, Byanyima said her agency expected to see “an additional 8.7 million new infections.”
“You’re talking of losing the gains that we have made over the last 25 years. It is very serious.”
Looking further ahead than the next four years, if aid funding is not restored, “in the longer term, we see the AIDS pandemic resurging, and resurging globally,” Byanyima said.
“Not just in the countries where now it has become concentrated, in low-income countries of Africa, but also growing among what we call key populations in Eastern Europe, in Latin America,” she said.
“We will see a... real surge in this disease. We’ll see it come back, and we’ll see people die the way we saw them in the ‘90s and in the 2000s.”
Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician
- Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
- Latest performance included parody song referring to Eknath Shinde in the state government as a “traitor.”
MUMBAI, INDIA: A mob ransacked a club in India’s financial capital after a stand-up comedian ridiculed one of the city’s leading politicians from the stage, prompting a police investigation into the performer.
Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
His Sunday performance in Mumbai included a parody song referring to Eknath Shinde, the number two figure in the state government, as a “traitor.”
Soon after the show finished, supporters from Shinde’s Shiv Sena party stormed The Habitat comedy venue and began wreaking havoc.
Footage widely shared on social media showed dozens of men throwing chairs, smashing light fittings and breaking apart paintings mounted on the wall.
At least 20 people were being sought in relation to the vandalism at the club, local media reported.
The Habitat said in a Monday social media post that it was shutting its doors until it determined the “best way to provide a platform for free expression” without putting the venue “in jeopardy.”
Police were attempting to locate Kamra after an official complaint was registered against him for making defamatory remarks.
Maharashtra state chief minister — and Shinde’s boss — Devendra Fadnavis said the comedian “should apologize” and that “insult of leaders cannot be tolerated.”
“Everyone has a right to perform stand-up comedy. But freedom should not be unrestrained behavior... Action will be taken against him as per the law,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
The “traitor” remark was a reference to Shinde’s decision to switch his political allegiance in 2022, precipitating a weeklong political crisis in the state that forced the resignation of the then-chief minister.
Kamra has yet to publicly comment on the incident, but the backlash against him is not the first time that an Indian comic has come under fire from supporters of politicians.
In 2021, Muslim comedian Munawar Faruqui was held in prison for more than a month after being accused of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses.
He later canceled three shows in Mumbai after a Hindu activist group threatened to set the venue on fire.
US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday
- Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group
- President Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 are causing alarm among Indian exporters
NEW DELHI: A delegation of officials from the United States will visit India from March 25 to 29 for trade talks with Indian officials, a US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.
Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group. “This visit reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India,” the spokesperson said.
Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal spent nearly a week in the United States earlier this month where he held trade discussions, and as US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 causing alarm among Indian exporters. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last month, both nations agreed to work on the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025, with a target of reaching $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. India and the US are engaged in discussions to resolve tariff-related issues, and finalize a framework for a bilateral trade pact, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s external affairs ministry, said last week.
“We value our ongoing engagement with the Government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner,” the US embassy spokesperson said.
