Chiefs victory parade shooting might affect future championship rallies: Report
The Kansas City Chiefs parade was shot up over a dispute between two people, and it could have major impacts on future celebrations of the same nature. The Chiefs have had two consecutive massive rallies after their wins, but a third won't happen.
Even if they do a three-peat, which no team have done in the Super Bowl era, the parade won't happen like the previous two. They're likely to buff up security and limit the number of fans allowed. There were up to one million fans, but that won't happen again.
In the wake of the shooting, former Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans, who worked 12 championship parades and saw the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, said that things have to change (via AP):
“They have to think twice about having these parades. When you have that many people hanging around in one place, nothing good’s going to happen.”
Shots were fired over a dispute at the parade, and the two suspects' shots killed a mother of two and left 22 others injured, with most of them being children. That's a trend that has sadly popped up. Last year's NBA Finals Championship parade in Denver was interrupted by gunfire, as was the Texas Rangers' victory lap.
Potential third Chiefs Super Bowl parade in a row would be different
If the Kansas City Chiefs can defy the odds and win another Super Bowl, their third in a row, the celebration would be very different. In fact, they might not even do a parade and simply host a controlled event inside their stadium.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said:
“If we’re blessed enough to win a Super Bowl again, do we do this again? Or do we all just say, ‘Go to Arrowhead Stadium. Walk through metal detectors. Have a very secured, vastly smaller event.'"
He continued:
“I think a lot of us, particularly those of us who are thinking about bringing our children somewhere, may ask, at least for a little while, ‘Is this the sort of thing that we want to risk?' It’s a shame that this is what we’ve come to today in America and in our city.”
Whoever wins the Super Bowl might end up adopting changes even if it's not the Kansas City Chiefs.