ST. LOUIS – Kansas City is still dealing with the aftermath of the February 14th mass shooting at the end of the Chiefs Super Bowl parade and rally, which killed local radio host Lisa Lopez-Galvan and wounded 22.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joined Total Information A.M. on Tuesday to discuss the shooting. Two adult suspects have been charged in Jackson County, while two minors are still in detention waiting to see if they are going to be charged as adults.
"It was an exciting day in Kansas City, a 65 degree February day, which until this week seems somewhat unheard of. We had probably in excess of 500,000 people there," said Lucas on KMOX. "I was close to the stage, actually close to Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly. They had both already left. I was still outside. We were moved inside when there was just some first stirring of something."
"I got separated from my own family. I ended up being relocated into a police vehicle, eventually caught back up with them," said Lucas.
"But it was a clear moment of mayhem in the city. And that's what you see if you've watched videos and others. That was the story outside for literally tens of thousands of people who are still there on Valentine's Day."
After the tragedy, Lucas proposed some new penalties for firearms violations, with a municipal ordinance that makes discharge of a firearm within city limits punishable by one mandatory year in jail.
"We created a municipal tool which allows for a one year sentence a mandatory one if you're convicted of the unlawful commission of a firearm within city limits," said Lucas.
"It to some is not nearly long enough. And I understand that, but rather than waiting for charges that in too many situations may not come, we thought it was important to give our police officers a tool to first of all guns out of the hands of people who don't need them and then offenders who are regularly using their firearms, regularly engaging in shootouts and in too many situations where charges aren't forthcoming. We are giving them a chance for them to meet our municipal justice system and hopefully to deter that sort of conduct in the future."
