Not letting a little gunfire slow down the celebration, eh?
Of course by now we’ve all seen the horrifying images of the moments when shots rang out at what was supposed to be a day of celebration for Kansas City after their Super Bowl victory.
So far one person has been confirmed dead, a popular DJ for radio station KKFI, Lisa Lopez. And at least 22 people were injured in the shooting, many of them children, making the situation all the more heartbreaking – and infuriating.
But many stories of the heroic actions of bystanders have emerged through the tragedy, like the men who chased down and tackled one of the suspected shooters.
Many members of the Chiefs, including guard Trey Smith and even coach Andy Reid, also helped to provide comfort amid the immediate chaos of the unfolding tragedy, before the team was taken by bus back to Arrowhead Stadium.
But once the team was back to safety, it seems they decided to keep the party rolling.
TMZ reports that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had planned an after party at the Granfalloon Restaurant and Bar in Kansas City after the parade – and that many Chiefs players, including star tight end (and boyfriend of Taylor Swift) Travis Kelce, attended the celebration.
According to TMZ, which obtained pictures of Kelce posing for selfies with police officers, the event had police on hand for crowd control, and that the venue was rented out by Mahomes shortly after the Chiefs won the big game over the San Francisco 49ers.
Of course many on social media didn’t really think it was a big deal that the team decided to continue their celebration after the tragedy: I mean, what else were they supposed to do, go track down the shooters themselves?
But others thought it was a bad look for the star athletes to be out partying just hours after their city (and their parade) was rocked by the shooting that left one dead and many children suffering from gunshot wounds:
On the one hand, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are entitled to celebrate their victory however they see fit, and they shouldn’t be criticized for going to a private party. But on the other hand, it’s understandable that people might be upset that they chose to do so in the…
— bendollar (@bendollz_ben) February 15, 2024
when you are a public figure this is NOT a good look at all!
— T (@dakl102612) February 15, 2024
Not surprising. A whole day of debauchery wasn’t enough. They couldn’t stop the public party just bc fan died🙄. And to make matters worse, Travis tweeted his condolences from the restaurant!
— BK923 (@BK92316) February 15, 2024
Bit tone deaf not going home after that!
— rach (@whatevs11) February 15, 2024
I mean, is it really a big deal though? What was the right thing for them to do? It wasn’t like they were holding a public celebration or something like that, which may have been a bad look. It was a private event, for teammates, at a restaurant.
This one seems like a bit of a reach to me, but when you’re in the public eye as much as guys like Mahomes and Kelce, every move you make is going to be scrutinized – fairly or not.
