Gabe Wallace: Teenager reveals how Andy Reid comforted him amid shooting during Super Bowl celebration parade
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: A teenager who survived a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration parade has shared how coach Andy Reid helped him cope with the trauma.
Gabe Wallace, who was separated from his friend during the chaos, said Reid hugged him and told him to breathe.
Andy Reid: A hero on and off the field
Wallace told The Kansas City Star that Andy Reid, nicknamed 'Big Red', was “being real nice and everything” as he comforted him inside Union Station where a security guard had directed him to safety.
Wallace said he was worried that his friends were dead as he heard gunshots near the stage where the Chiefs players had just left.
“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,” Wallace said of Reid.
Wallace added that Reid then “left to check on other people” and that he was “pretty sure” he went to “help other people” too.
Chiefs players helped children calm down after shooting incident
Reid was not the only Chiefs star who showed compassion and courage in the aftermath of the shooting, which left one person dead and 30 others injured, according to Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves.
NFL reporter Albert Breer tweeted that many of the Chiefs players were “UNBELIEVABLE calming panicked kids down” as they left the parade in buses.
“Blaine Gabbert, Tre Smith, Austin Reiter, Chris Oladukun all rallied,” Breer wrote.
“Smith went to one upset kid, gave him the WWE title belt and sat with him til he calmed down,” Breer added.
The Chiefs left the parade in busses, and in shock. I'm told players were UNBELIEVABLE calming panicked kids down. Blaine Gabbert, Tre Smith, Austin Reiter, Chris Oladukun all rallied.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 14, 2024
Smith went to one upset kid, gave him the WWE title belt and sat with him til he calmed down.
Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting claimed the life of a local DJ
The shooting claimed the life of Lisa Lopez-Galvan who worked as a DJ for radio station KKFI 90.1 in Kansas City, her family said.
Lopez-Galvan was among the thousands of fans who had gathered to celebrate the Chiefs’ historic win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Lopez-Galvan reportedly died during surgery at a hospital from a gunshot wound to her abdomen Wednesday afternoon, February 14.
“She was the most wonderful, beautiful person,” Lisa Lopez, a friend told the outlet. She also works as The Star’s newsroom executive administrative assistant.
“She was a local DJ. She did everybody’s weddings. We all know her. She was so full of life," she said.
"Our hearts and prayers are with her family,” the radio station shared in a post on Facebook, adding “This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Coqmmunity.”
