The shooting on Wednesday at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl LVIII parade at the historic Union Station in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, left one person killed and 22 others injured from gunshot wounds, police say.
Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith shared his harrowing account of the shooting during an appearance on Good Morning America on Thursday.
"I just remember the security guards just ushering us through the doors quickly, saying, 'Come on, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.' They said, 'This is not a joke. It's a life and death situation,' " Smith said.
Smith told GMA that he and Chiefs long snapper James Winchester sheltered in a closet, and Smith credited Winchester for helping keep people calm amid the chaotic scene.
Smith said there were potentially 20-plus people hiding in the closet in the aftermath of the shooting, including a child he sought to comfort.
"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.
Smith added: "This little boy was with his father. He was a little hysterical. He just panicked. He was scared. He doesn't know what's going on. 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.' We just started talking about wrestling: 'Who's your favorite wrestler? What's your favorite wrestling match?' Little things like that to take his mind off it. He was looking out the window. He was seeing people reacting, trying to get out of the situation. I'm like, 'Here you go, buddy, this is yours,. No one is gonna hurt you. You're here with us. You're going to be A-OK. You're going to be all right.' "
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves told reporters on Thursday that the shooting remains an active investigation and police have recovered multiple firearms from the scene. Three people have been detained, two of which are juveniles, and are under investigation, per Graves, who added that the shooting appeared to be the result of "a dispute between several people."
The Chiefs confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that all players, coaches and staff are safe and accounted for. Multiple Chiefs players, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, as well as President Joe Biden and teams around the NFL, offered statements of support and prayer on social media throughout Wednesday evening.
"I'm pretty angry. Due to senseless violence, someone lost their life today," Smith said on Thursday. "You have children that are injured, you have children that are traumatized. I'm hurting for, one, the families of the people who got impacted, [and two,] the city of Kansas City."
Smith added: "Our hearts go out to you guys. We will continue to pray for you. At the end of the day, Kansas City is a great city. We're going to stand up together and we're going to be strong."
