What caused mass shooting at KC Super Bowl rally? Staring, fighting and ‘being stupid’

A woman died and 24 other people were injured by gunfire after two groups of armed males arguing about “why they were staring at each other” led to the mass shooting at Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally a week ago, according to court documents.

The documents give a glimpse into what police and prosecutors believe sparked the shooting that killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Johnson County mother of two and beloved disc jockey in Kansas City. Two dozen others were injured by gunfire, and at least 18 were hurt in the stampede as people rushed from the scene and sought cover. Roughly half of those injured by gunfire were under the age of 16.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker on Tuesday announced that second-degree felony murder charges have been filed against Lyndell Mays, 23, of Raytown and Dominic M. Miller, 18, of Kansas City, bring the number of people charged in relation to the shooting up to five, including two teens and a Wichita man.

Mays and Miller both also face two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Their bond has been set at $1 million each.

The details of what led to the mass shooting were included in probable cause affidavits, which lay out why someone has been charged with a crime. The affidavits released to the public were redacted so some details, mostly names, have been blacked out. Besides interviewing witnesses, detectives reviewed surveillance video, saying it showed there were two groups involved in the shooting.

Both Miller and Mays were injured by gunfire in the shooting, and were found wounded near Pershing and Kessler Roads. A black Taurus G3 9mm handgun was found near Miller, while a Glock 9mm handgun was found near Mays, according to the affidavits.

What surveillance video shows

In surveillance video, Mays and a witness, identified as Witness 9, were standing near Pershing and Kessler roads when the incident started. It appeared Mays got into a verbal argument with a group of people standing several feet away, according to one affidavit.

“They began arguing about why they were staring at each other,” a witness, the boyfriend of Witness 9, told detectives.

Mays allegedly started toward the group in an aggressive manner, according to the video. Witness 9 put her hand on Mays in an attempt to stop him from going any further. Mays and the witness appeared to continue to argue with the group, according to one affidavit.

At one point, Mays backed up, pointed his finger at the group and continued yelling.

Miller and two others had approached Mays’ group, but Miller didn’t go all the way up. Miller then briefly backed up and positioned himself in a crowd of people “as if taking up a strategic position” as he watched the argument between the two groups, according to the affidavit relating to the charges against him.

Mays then circled behind someone and pulled out a handgun and pointed it at one person, whose name was redacted, according to one of the affidavits.

As Mays chased the person, others from that group pulled their firearms and pointed them toward Mays and appeared to start shooting in his direction. The person running from Mays appeared to be unarmed, according one of the affidavits.

Mays continued to chase the person and appeared to have fired shots. Mays then appeared to get struck by gunfire and fell to the ground. The others fled the area, according to the affidavit.

Witness 9 ran up to Mays and struck him twice with her fists in “an angry manner,” according to the affidavit.

Meanwhile, Miller had pulled out a firearm while in the crowd and pointed it at someone, whose name was also redacted. Miller chased after a person and appeared to being shooting while he was between two people in the crowd.

An unidentified person from one of the groups pulled out a gun, followed Miller and then fired, striking Miller in the lower back. Miller grabbed his back and fell to the ground.

The video showed that there was a large crowd of people, including Lopez-Galvan, in the direction that Miller had been shooting. Miller appeared to have tripped over a cone while shooting. Miler got back up and ran to the southeast.

What the suspects said

The Friday following the shooting, detectives went to the hospital where Miller was being treated and questioned him.

Miller initially told detectives he and some friends, whose names were redacted, were at the rally, standing on the west side of the main stage when he heard gunshots. He told detectives that as he began to run, he was shot in the abdomen, according to the affidavit.

After being told he had been caught on video, Miller allegedly admitted to being armed with a Taurus G3 9mm handgun.

He told detectives that after hearing gunshots, he saw a Black male with dreads armed with a black handgun shooting at him. Miller said he returned fire, estimating that he fired four or five shots. Miller told detectives that he was uncertain whether he struck the person he was shooting at. Miller claimed he didn’t see anyone else armed at the time of the shooting.

During Lopez-Galvan’s autopsy, a bullet was recovered. It was determined that the bullet came from Miller’s firearm.

That Friday, detectives also went to the hospital where Mays was being treated. Initially, Mays gave a statement that was inconsistent with the surveillance, according to the affidavit.

After being told police had surveillance video, Mays allegedly changed his story and identified himself and Witness 9 in a still shot taken from the video.

Mays allegedly acknowledged he pulled out his gun first and began firing at the others first. Initially, he said he didn’t think he shot his gun. When told he had, Mays replied that he didn’t hit anything, according to affidavit.

Mays allegedly told detectives that he drew his gun first because the others could have been armed and they had said, “I’m going to get you.” He took that as meaning, “I’m going to kill you,” according to the affidavit.

Mays allegedly said he randomly picked one of the individuals in the group to target because he was in fear of Witness 9’s life. The others started shooting after he shot first, Mays told the detectives.

When asked why Mays advanced toward the group to begin with, he allegedly replied: “Stupid, man. Just pulled a gun out and started shooting. I shouldn’t have done that. Just being stupid.”