Fewer details made public in Chiefs rally shooting charges than in past juvenile cases
Despite heightened public interest following last week’s mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, officials have released fewer details about the charges filed against two teenage suspects than in past cases.
On Friday, the family division of Jackson County Circuit Court announced cases against two juveniles, including “gun related and resisting arrest charges.”
Valerie Hartman, a spokeswoman for the court, declined to provide additional information, including the exact charges or the ages of the two defendants.
“The news release contains the extent of the information that the Office of the Juvenile Officer can release at this time,” she wrote in an email.
Past news releases from other juvenile cases have specified the charges and the ages of juveniles.
For instance, in a May 15, 2023, email, Hartman wrote that a 14 year old had been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action, both felonies, in the fatal stabbing of a teacher.
Information was also released when a 15-year-old boy was charged in a fatal stabbing at Northeast Middle School in 2022, and in 2021 when a 15 year old and a 17 year old were charged with murder after two other teenagers were shot and killed.
Hartman did not respond when asked why the Super Bowl rally shooting was being treated differently.
A public records request for the same information was also denied.
Nicholas Purifoy, assistant legal counsel for Jackson County Circuit Court, wrote in a response that “The Court cannot comply with your request.”
“Case records are created by the Court in its judicial capacity—and thus not subject to disclosure under the Missouri Sunshine Law.”
The specific charges are a key detail because serious offenses, such as murder, mandate a hearing to determine if a juvenile will be charged as an adult.
Twenty-three people were shot last Wednesday as the Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally was wrapping up at Union Station. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Johnson County mother of two, died.
On Thursday, Kansas City Police Department Chief Stacey Graves said a dispute led to the shooting. Since then, little information has been released.
“Our detectives, our investigators, are still working around the clock tirelessly on this investigation. And unfortunately because of the integrity of the investigation, there isn’t much more I can share,” Graves said after the Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Tuesday morning.
She declined to comment on what the dispute was over or if there are additional suspects.
