3 KC men face federal firearm charges relating to mass shooting at Chiefs Super Bowl rally
Three Kansas City men face federal charges of illegal gun trafficking and straw purchases of firearms related to the mass shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl rally, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas City.
“These cases underscore the importance of enforcing federal firearms laws,” said Teresa Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, in a news release.
“Stopping straw buyers and preventing illegal firearms trafficking is our first line of defense against gun violence,” Moore continued. “At least two of the firearms recovered from the scene of the mass shooting at Union Station were illegally purchased or trafficked.”
The charges do not allege that the men were among the shooters, but rather that they were allegedly involved in illegal straw purchases and trafficking of firearms.
The Feb. 14 shooting that erupted at the celebration at Union Station killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Johnson County mother of two and beloved disc jockey in Kansas City.
Two dozen others were injured by gunfire, including two alleged shooters who face murder charges, and at least 18 others were hurt in the stampede that followed. Roughly half of those wounded by gunfire were under the age of 16.
A dozen people brandished firearms and at least six people fired their weapons, according to the news release. Kansas City police recovered several guns, spent casings and other evidence.
Two of the firearms recovered after the shooting were cited in the federal criminal complaints that were filed under seal on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City. The complaints were unsealed and made public Wednesday after the suspects were arrested.
The defendants are 22-year-old Fedo Antonia Manning, 21-year-old Ronnel Dwayne Williams Jr. and 19-year-old Chaelyn Hendrick Groves.
Manning faces a 12-count criminal complaint accusing him of one count each of conspiracy to traffic firearms and engaging in firearm sales without a license, and 10 counts of making a false statement on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form.
Williams and Groves, who were charged in the same complaint, both face one count each of conspiracy to make false statements in the acquisition of firearms, aiding and abetting the making of false statements in the acquisition of firearms, and making a false statement to a federal agent.
Firearms found at Union Station mass shooting
Manning allegedly purchased an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223-caliber pistol from Frontier Justice in Lee’s Summit on Aug. 7, 2022, according to court documents.
That pistol was one of the guns found at Union Station following the shooting along a wall with a backpack, next to two AR-15-style rifles and backpacks. The pistol was in “fire” position and there were 26 live rounds in the magazine. The pistol is capable of holding 30 rounds, indicating several rounds may have been fired before it was discarded, according to the news release.
Manning allegedly illegally trafficked dozens of firearms, including many Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 firearms.
The second firearm recovered from the mass shooting was a Stag Arms 300-caliber pistol, which was allegedly purchased by Williams from The Ammo Box during a gun show at the KCI Expo Center in Kansas City’s Northland on Nov. 25.
William allegedly purchased the firearm for Groves, who attended the gun show with Williams but was too young to legally purchase the weapon himself.
Bernard Hansen, the ATF’s Kansas City Field Division special agent in charge, said the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has given the bureau additional tools needed to go after straw purchasers and firearms traffickers “who flood our streets with weapons that pose a threat to every single person in Kansas City.”
“These arrests serve as a notice to those who think they can illegally traffic guns into our communities or straw purchase firearms,” Hansen said.
