How Andy Reid comforted frantic teen at Chiefs parade shooting. ‘Please breathe.’

Gabe Wallace, his left temple bloodied, wrapped his arms around a friend he’d lost track of amid the deadly gunfire.

The two Shawnee Mission East sophomores had attended the Chiefs’ rally at Union Station to celebrate a Super Bowl. Instead, they buried their heads on each other’s shoulders, tears flowing down their faces. They were both safe.

“I love you, man,” Wallace said. “I love you.”

Gabe and his friend Hank Hunter were with others outside Union Station when, after the celebration ended, shots were fired.

Soon, they would be frantic and separated from each other, unsure if the other had survived. But amid the chaos, Gabe would be consoled by a prominent figure in the rally.

By early evening, at least one person was confirmed dead and authorities said 21 others had been shot. Police said they had detained three people.

“We were right up on the front of the fences, far left side, like right above the barricade,” said Hank. “… We heard shots and there were rumors going around. Everyone started getting down. And me and my friend Gabe, we jumped over the fences.”

Gabe said he heard, “boom, boom, like real quick,” before a security guard shouted toward him.

“The security guard was like, ‘Get over the damn fence right now. There’s a shooter,’” Gabe said.

But as he tried to leap over the barricade, his foot got caught, and “then my face nailed the concrete.”

As he stood up, a security guard directed him inside Union Station. There, Gabe said multiple people offered their support, including one who had just spoken on the stage outside.

Andy Reid, the Chiefs’ head coach.

“Andy Reid was trying to comfort me, which was nice,” Gabe said, shortly before his voice broke and tears filled his eyes. “… He was kind of hugging me, just like, ‘Are you OK, man? Are you OK? Just please breathe.’ He was being real nice and everything.”

“He left to check on other people, I’m pretty sure.”

Donna Kelce, who rode down Grand Boulevard in the parade with her son, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, returned to Union Station hours later. She said the Chiefs were whisked out of the area and taken back to Arrowhead Stadium.

“Everybody who was with the team, they got us out of there really fast,” she said.

But Gabe remained inside Union Station — without Hank or the other friends.

His thoughts raced.

“My friends are dead — that’s what’s going through my mind,” Gabe said. “I’m literally thinking, ‘What if my friends are dead?… Are they alive, or are they just lying there on the floor just bleeding out?’ I have no idea.”

It would be half an hour before Gabe and Hank reunited on the corner of Main Street and Pershing Road, what had been the day’s last stop of the Chiefs’ victory parade, but now their first confirmation that the other was OK.

As they spoke, both wearing red No. 95 Chris Jones jerseys, they had yet to connect with their other friends.

During the conversation, Hank spotted an incoming call on his phone.

“Hello?” he said. “I’m fine.”