A Kansas City-area high school student said Chiefs coach Andy Reid hugged him as a shooting unfolded at the team’s Super Bowl parade on Wednesday.
At least 22 people were shot and one has been killed after gunmen opened fire inside Union Station shortly after 3:30pm, according to Kansas City police chief Stacey Graves.
And Gabe Wallace, a sophomore at Shawnee Mission East High School, has reportedly said that Reid consoled him during the madness.
‘Andy Reid was trying to comfort me, which was nice,’ Wallace told the Kansas City Star.
‘… He was kind of hugging me, just like, ‘Are you OK, man? Are you OK? Just please breathe.’ He was being real nice and everything. He left to check on other people, I’m pretty sure.’
Chiefs coach Andy Reid and owner Clark Hunt celebrate during the parade on Wednesday
People flee after shots were fired near the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade
Speaking to Star columnist Sam McDowell, Wallace said he ‘had no idea if my friends were OK.’
‘My friends are dead – that’s what’s going through my mind,’ he recalled afterwards.
‘I’m literally thinking, ‘What if my friends are dead?… Are they alive, or are they just lying there on the floor just bleeding out?’ I have no idea.’
He was later reunited with his friend Hank Hunter, whom he was separated from during the gunfire.
The teen said he was told by a security guard to ‘get over the damn fence’ to safety, and hit his face in the process.
Police evacuated Union Station as huge crowds fled in panic after the shots rang out.
Up to one million people were expected to have descended on Kansas City for the parade.
Police detained two gunmen at the scene as the parade descended into chaos. It is not clear if the man pictured was involved
Reports indicate multiple children were also gunned down in the tragic celebration, and were rushed to nearby Children’s Mercy Hospital.
A man in a red hoodie was pictured being arrested, although it is unclear if he was one of those involved in the shooting.
Video has also emerged of brave Chiefs fans tackling one of the suspected gunmen as he attempted to flee police.
As seen in a clip posted to X, several people hold the suspect down while others call for police help.
Officers then arrive to the group and are able to detain the suspect.
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