Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday that two adults have been charged with murder in last week’s mass shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Super Bowl parade.
Lyndell Mays, of Raytown, Missouri, and Dominic Miller, of Kansas City, Missouri, are both charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
According to court documents, the two men were strangers who pulled out guns and began firing within seconds of starting an argument. Both men were shot, and they have been hospitalized since the shooting, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a news conference.
They are each being held on a $1 million bond.
The argument began when two groups of people grew agitated over the belief that people in the other group were staring at them, according to affidavits from police. Surveillance video shows Mays and someone with him aggressively approached the other group, police say.
The video showed Mays was the first to begin shooting despite being surrounded by crowds of people, including children, according to one of the affidavits.
Mays told detectives that “he hesitated shooting because he knew there were kids there,” according to the affidavit. He told investigators he began firing after someone in the other group said, “I’m going to get you,” which he took to mean they would try to kill him. He said he chose a random person from the other group to shoot at as that person was running away, the affidavit says.
Miller initially told investigators that he and his friends began running after hearing gunfire and that he was shot in the back, one affidavit says. When investigators told Miller they had video of him chasing someone in Mays’ group and shooting, Miller admitted to firing four to five shots, the affidavit said.
A bullet from Miller’s gun killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan, officials said Tuesday. Lopez-Galvan was in a nearby crowd of people watching the Chiefs rally, according to one of the affidavits.
“It is reassuring for our family and the entire community to know that this joint team effort has resulted in the identification of the suspects involved,” Lopez-Galvan’s family said in a statement after Tuesday’s announcement.
Online court records did not list attorneys who could comment on the behalf of Mays or Miller. The Missouri State Public Defender’s Office said applications for public defenders for the men had not yet been received by the Kansas City office.
Authorities did not release ages for either man, but court records show Mays is in his early 20s and Miller is 18 or 19.
The new charges come after two juveniles were detained last week on gun-related and resisting arrest charges. Authorities said more charges are possible.
“I do want you to understand — we seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day. Every single one,” Peters Baker said. “So while we’re not there yet on every single individual, we’re going to get there.”
The 22 people injured range in age from 8 to 47, according to police Chief Stacey Graves.
The shooting was the latest at a sports celebration in the United States. A shooting wounded several people last year in Denver after the Nuggets‘ NBA championship.
That led Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to wonder whether it’s time to rethink championship celebrations, even as he promised last week that the city will continue to celebrate its victories. Next month’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will go on as scheduled, Lucas said.
On Monday, Missouri’s Republican-led House, on a bipartisan vote, passed a ban on celebratory gunfire in cities following debate that ranged from tearful to angry. It now goes to the Missouri Senate for consideration.
A similar measure was passed last year as part of a sweeping crime-related bill, but Republican Gov. Mike Parson vetoed the legislation. He cited issues with other crime provisions in the bill unrelated to celebratory gunfire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
