Super Bowl Shooting Photo Gallery by Liz Bickel at pbase.com

Super Bowl Shooting

This gallery is not about Image Quality
Instead, it is about the story of one day when joy-turned-to-tragedy in Heart of America.

"A Horrible End". "There is No Joy". "No Safe Place". "A Dark Cloud".
In the linked article, the New York Times
describes the situation well: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/super-bowl-kansas-city-shooting.
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Normally, we would have been there... However, unlike with the Chiefs 2020 Super Bowl victory celebrations, we instead stayed home this year and watched on local TV. All of the local stations carried the parade and rally. They also unexpectedly captured live the events of still another mass shooting in America that left the entire Metro in shock and grief. This gallery is a vicarious personal experience. Union Station & events like the Chiefs' celebration were two things that everyone - including myself - considered safe. Because of another case of gun violence, the last vestige of innocence has now been stolen from still another community. In addition to those directly affected, many (including those who only watched the events on TV) are now suffering from "secondhand trauma." The Metro has been hit hard.
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Downtown Kansas City had been a sea of red on Wednesday – Valentine’s Day – as Chiefs fans celebrated their third Super Bowl title in five seasons with the parade. A day of jubilant celebration was plunged into chaos after shots were fired at the Super Bowl victory rally for the Kansas City Chiefs. Hundreds of police officers swarmed the scene as panicked fans ran, with some later carried out on stretchers. One person is dead and 22 others suffered gunshot wounds, including 11 children. Scores of additional, previously-joyful rally goers suffered other injuries.

The Union Station shooting was news around the world because of when and where it unfolded. But in many respects, the circumstances were all too familiar in a country where guns and gun violence are pervasive. Kansas City has been enduring a lot of that bloodshed. The city has one of the highest murder rates in the nation. City officials say many of those previous killings were attributed to arguments, the same as the cause cited for the shooting at the Super Bowl victory rally. KC Police Chief Graves has verified that the Union Station attack stemmed from a dispute between people in the crowd. She said, “People who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment. We had over 800 law enforcement officers from Kansas City and other agencies at the location to keep everyone safe from bad actors. This tragedy occurred even in the presence of uniformed law enforcement officers."

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said that the White House had offered federal assistance with the ongoing investigation. “This is absolutely a tragedy the likes of which we would have never expected in Kansas City and the likes of which we will remember for some time,” he said. The Union Station mass shooting has sadly stolen innocence from the entire community who considered the Parade and Rally totally "safe." "Fear" is now the mood of the city, along with great sadness. Such shootings are the type of events that can leave deep emotional trauma for people involved or who witnessed the violence or even their family members. Counseling services are being offered for free across the Metro for anyone in the community (including those who watched the scene unfold on live TV) having difficulties emotionally processing what happened.

Local sports and newscaster of 35 years, Neil Jones has a weekly segment called his "Top Five." It is usually a good natured (often humorous) review on things happening around the community. He reported live from Vegas during Super Bowl week. His reports of the Chiefs helped those "back home" to happily see what was happening in Vegas & to cheer on the hometown team. Like so many others, he then was at the KC rally to enjoy the Chiefs' victory. Everyone was having a great time at the rally. Shockingly, Neil then unexpectedly found himself within feet of where the fatal shootings happened. Therefore, his "Top Five" dramatically was changed from the planned, good-natured roost of Parade & Rally events. Instead, his "Top Five" - post Union Station shooting - summarizes how the Kansas City community is now feeling in the Heart of America. It is a somber reflection on joy turned to tragedy and what it means to this city and to America overall. See below.

A week has passed, and the Super Bowl rally is no longer, the most recent deadly mass shooting in America.
It's not even "most recent" in Kansas City.

Perhaps guns are an American problem that needs to be addressed???
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Secondary trauma or second-hand trauma can occur if you are exposed to particularly distressing details of the trauma experienced by others. STS can occur after only one exposure to the details of another’s trauma. Those who experience STS will have at least some of the symptoms that are commonly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some of these individuals will experience full-blown PTSD.

For more information about the deadly Union Station mass shooting and the aftermath: https://www.kctv5.com/news/kc-strong/

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Innocence Lost 2-15-24
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Helen Betts 26-Feb-2024 19:25
You've done an excellent job of documenting this tragedy. It's just so shocking that it happened at such a joyful event.

Jeff Real 26-Feb-2024 18:12
Great documentary work of this terrible tragedy!
V

joseantonio 23-Feb-2024 19:28
very nice document.V.

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