Current:Home > InvestChiefs players comfort frightened children during Super Bowl parade mass shooting -AssetLink
Chiefs players comfort frightened children during Super Bowl parade mass shooting
View
Date:2025-04-18 23:28:58
When gunshots were fired at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade on Valentine's Day, panic ensued with people running in every direction to get to safety. A beloved local DJ died and 21 others were wounded, according to police.
The Chiefs and their entire staff were quickly ushered to safety, but multiple players and head coach Andy Reid comforted others before they were escorted from the scene.
Multiple Chiefs players calmed frightened children during the chaos, including quarterback Blaine Gabbert, tackle Trey Smith, long snapper James Winchester, center Austin Reiter and quarterback Chris Oladukun. Smith even went to one kid, sat with him and gave him a WWE title belt.
Smith and another player found shelter in a closet, he told Good Morning America, helping as many people as possible do the same.
"Right before I run in there, there's a little kid in front of me, so I just grabbed him and yanked him up and said, 'You're hopping in here with me, buddy,'" Smith said. "I don't know how many people were in the closet, maybe 20-plus.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
"One of my teammates, my long snapper James Winchester, was very instrumental in helping keep people calm."
After exiting the closet, Smith said the players were ushered to team buses. On the way, he saw a small boy who was "hysterical" and stopped to talk to him.
"He just panicked. He was scared. He doesn't know what's going on," Smith said. "I had the WWE belt the entire parade and I was thinking, 'What can I do to help him out?' I just handed him the belt and said, 'Hey buddy, you're the champion. No one is gonna hurt you. No one's gonna hurt you, man. We got your back.'"
Reiter’s agent Nodirbek Talipov called the players heroes.
"They risked their lives to attend to kids and calm them down without really knowing what’s coming next," Talipov told USA TODAY Sports.
'Heartbroken':Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs players react to shooting
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid also helped comfort at least one teenager at the scene, according to the Kansas City Star.
"Andy Reid was trying to comfort me, which was nice," Gabe Wallace, a sophomore at a local high school told the 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."
veryGood! (55)
Related
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Driver says he considered Treat Williams a friend and charges in crash are not warranted
- Teen in custody in fatal stabbing of NYC dancer O'Shae Sibley: Sources
- Man who tried to enter Jewish school with a gun fired twice at a construction worker, police say
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Season-ticket sellout shows Detroit Lions fans are on the hype train
- Biggest search for Loch Ness Monster in over 50 years looks for volunteers
- Advocates urge furniture industry to comply with new federal safety standards in September
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- North Korean leader Kim tours weapons factories and vows to boost war readiness in face of tensions
Ranking
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- Crammed with tourists, Alaska’s capital wonders what will happen as its magnificent glacier recedes
- Husband of missing Georgia woman Imani Roberson charged with her murder
- Police say multiple people injured in Idaho school bus crash blocking major highway
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Beyoncé, Spike Lee pay tribute to O'Shae Sibley, stabbed while dancing: 'Rest in power'
- Why is Jon Gruden at New Orleans Saints training camp? Head coach Dennis Allen explains
- How high school activism put Barbara Lee on the path to Congress — and a fight for Dianne Feinstein's seat
Recommendation
Intellectuals vs. The Internet
Social media influencer Kai Cenat faces charges of inciting riot after thousands cause mayhem in NYC
Husband of missing Georgia woman Imani Roberson charged with her murder
Texas abortion bans lifted temporarily for medical emergencies, judge rules
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
Trump mounts defense in Alabama campaign appearance
Thousands enroll in program to fight hepatitis C: This is a silent killer
Opera singer David Daniels and his husband plead guilty to sexual assault