Travis Kelce was among the Kansas City Chiefs stars who went ahead with a ‘scaled down’ celebration just hours after a mass shooting saw the team’s Super Bowl parade descend into tragedy – while other teammates stayed away.
In new pictures, obtained by DailyMail.com, star tight end Kelce – whose relationship with Taylor Swift dominated the NFL this season – was seen in a Kansas City sports bar on Wednesday alongside several teammates and their WAGs – including Patrick Mahomes’ wife Brittany. He is part of a small group that also includes Brittany, Chiefs punter Tommy Townsend, center Creed Humphrey, tight end Matt Bushman – and his wife Emily.
Sources told DailyMail.com that Mahomes booked the entire venue out for a select few members of the squad and their families. Many of Andy Reid’s team stayed away following the attack which left one person dead and dozens injured in Kansas City.
But Kelce, who led a rendition of the Beastie Boys’ hit ‘Fight For Your Right (to party)’ following the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, was among those to head out. This new image is sure to pose more questions for the tight end, who has already come under fire after posing for a smiling selfie with a police officer in the wake of the deadly shooting.
‘It was a small number of the players, including Travis and Patrick, with their wives and other family members. ‘They were here for a couple of hours, and they helped to cheer up the staff and keep their minds off what happened.
‘It had all been planned out in advance, initially it was meant to be bigger but it got scaled down.’
Kelce has a signed jersey in the restaurant, as well as Mahomes. The bar is decorated with Kansas City memorabilia, with two large bobble heads of the tight end framing the bar. The tight end appeared in good spirits as he clutched a beer on his way into the Granfalloon Restaurant and Bar, just hours after being rushed off stage with his teammates as several gunmen opened fire on their throes of fans.
At least 30 people were injured in the horror parade shooting, including nine children aged between six and 15, with tributes pouring in for a beloved Kansas City radio DJ who was killed. Kelce’s post-shooting selfies sparked backlash from some fans, with one saying: ‘Not a good look IMO for him a few hours after a person was killed and others wounded.’
Others defended the Super Bowl star and felt he had a right to enjoy a meal out with his team, hours after he said he was ‘heartbroken’ over the horror shooting. ‘My heart is with all who came out to celebrate with us and have been affected. KC, you mean the world to me,’ he said on X.
Kelce enjoyed his night out hours before Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas gave an update on the investigation, saying he is considering blocking any Superbowl victory parades next year if the Chiefs win again following Wednesday’s horror mass shooting. The mayor, 39, said three suspects remain under questioning over the tragedy (two of which are juveniles), but declined to identify the gunmen who shot 21 people and killed one at Wednesday’s Superbowl parade.
Mayor Lucas didn’t rule out further arrests, and cops said that at least ten people were spoken to in connection with the incident. Multiple firearms were seized as well. Lucas offered scant new details on the tragedy early Thursday morning, and apologized for ‘failing to keep everybody safe’ at the family event at a 6am press conference Thursday. ‘I’m sorry that this happened yesterday,’ he said.
‘We worked hard to put on an exceptional parade, we spent millions on it, but we failed to keep everybody safe and that’s something I have great guilt over.’ He added in an interview with CBS that a motive for the massacre remains a mystery, and condemned the ease of access to firearms in Missouri as ‘this is not the way I want to live.’ Lucas did not offer specifics on the type of gun used, but said it appeared to be ‘some sort of rapid-fire firearm.’
Mayor Quinton Lucas message to Kansas City@KCTV5 pic.twitter.com/zmXBpBCOZ3
— Nathan Brennan (@NathanKCTV5) February 15, 2024
Lucas condemned the easy access the gunmen had to deadly weapons, citing how there were over 800 cops stationed at the parade that were powerless to prevent a senseless mass shooting. ‘Clearly, there is an access to firearm issue for some in our community,’ he said. ‘There’s a person or persons who intentionally or unintentionally fire into a crowd and hit almost two dozen people, our officers can be on it in an instant yet there’s still this level of harm.
‘We need to do something about the fact that some of these people are able to get these guns in the first place. ‘I don’t know what we’ll do about it ultimately, but we need to find national and local solutions to it.’ Lucas said he was in the front row when the ‘horrifying’ shooting unfolded, which sent thousands of fans sprinting for their lives as chaos took over the Superbowl celebration.
He recalled the moment the fun family event descended into mayhem, seconds after the Kansas City Chiefs players were ‘dancing on stage.’ ‘That’s when (police) rushed the stage,’ he continued. ‘There was commotion, and we all sprinted for our lives.’
Terrified witnesses said the chaotic scenes separated families as children were left screaming for help, with the mayor noting he lost his family in the frenzy. ‘All of a sudden someone came and whisked me away… I ended up separated from my wife and was put in a police vehicle,’ he said, adding his family were ‘safe but shaken.’ ‘It was horrifying.’ he said.
‘I don’t say that to enlarge my experience. there were a lot of people who had it a lot worse than me – someone lost their life.’ Last year, Kansas City recorded a record number of homicides at 185, a factor that the mayor said frustrated him following the shooting as he attempts to crackdown on the crimewave.
Lucas cited a 30 percent starting pay rise for police officers that he proposed to try and entice more residents to join the police – saying the force needed more officers like those who ran towards danger when the shooting began.
Lucas’ concerns over the easy access to guns was echoed by President Biden, who used the moment to call for stronger gun control measures. ‘Today’s events should move us, shock us, shame us into acting,’ Biden said in a statement. ‘Make your voice heard in Congress so we finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them.’
It comes as tributes have poured in for the one person who lost their life in the shooting, beloved Kansas City radio DJ and mother of two Lisa Lopez-Galvan. She passed away during emergency surgery in hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Local Democrat Manny Abarca who was a friend of Lopez-Galvan’s spoke about her impact in an interview with TalkTV’s Jeremy Kyle and Rosie Wright on Talk Today. ‘It’s a tragic situation. I was there with my six year old daughter, Camilla and we went from catching confetti to hiding in a bathroom, not knowing what our fate may be. Unfortunately, this is the state of large events like this in America. ‘We have to look out for those with weapons that are readily accessible, and accessible particularly in states like Missouri.’
