The person fatally shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory celebration Wednesday has been identified, as police held three people in custody and sought answers over the culprits and motive behind the shooting.
The victim was named by her family as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a popular figure in the city’s Hispanic community and beyond.
At least 21 other people were injured, eight of them “life-threatening,” when shots were fired at about 2 p.m. CT, authorities said. At least 11 of those injured were aged between 6 and 15, Children’s Mercy Hospital said.
Three people have been detained by police in connection with the incident, though they have not been identified. The exact circumstances and motive behind the shootings remain unclear as a police investigation continues.
Chiefs players, who were celebrating Sunday’s overtime win that made them back-to-back champions, responded with shock and disbelief at the incident.
In a post on X, Safety Justin Reid said: “This 🤬 is SAD man! Kids are being shot and somebody didn’t come home tonight. We cannot allow this to be normal.” Tight End Travis Kelce said he was “heartbroken,” while the team’s official X account said it was “truly saddened” by Wednesday’s events.”
Lopez-Galvan co-hosted a weekly radio show on local station KKFI 90.1 called A Taste of Tejano, a celebration of Tejano or “Tex-Mex” music which has origins in Texas and Mexico. She also played local weddings and promoted charity fundraisers.
The Kansas City Star reported that she was a mother of two.
“It is with sincere sadness and an extremely heavy and broken heart that we let our community know that KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan, host of Taste of Tejano lost her life today in the shooting at the KC Chiefs’ rally,” the station said on Facebook.
“This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community,” the station added.
The Taste of Tejano Facebook page changed its profile picture to a single candle. She last hosted the show Tuesday night.
Lisa Lopez, a newsroom executive administration assistant who is no relation, told the Kansas City Star: “She was the most wonderful, beautiful person. She was a local DJ. She did everybody’s weddings. We all know her. She was so full of life.”
Manuel Abarca IV, 1st District legislator in Jackson County, Missouri, paid tribute to her and pledged to do more to bring in gun reforms.
“I will not let her death go in vein. I will legislate, I will fight and I WILL do everything in my power to change this State and City for the better,” he said in a post on X.
Vice-President Kamala Harris echoed this sentiment before boarding a flight to Munich Wednesday night, when she urged Congress to act on gun control.
“Today was supposed to be a day of celebration for a community of people to come together … and yet it’s another day where America experienced gun violence,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
On her own Facebook page, Chiefs fan Lopez-Galvan showed how excited she was for the Super Bowl by posting pictures of red and yellow snacks and shirts.
In November, the Kansas City Hispanic News newspaper published a feature on Lopez-Galvan and her father, Beto Lopez, 79, a locally famous Mariachi musician.
“My daughter Lisa enjoys music just as much as I do, except I play a trumpet with Mariachi groups and Lisa plays music at the KKFI community radio station,” Lopez told the paper.
“She also DJs for different events throughout the metro, whether that be a private party or a fiesta. What we have is special, and it is all for the love of music.”
Caryn Littler contributed.