Football fans in southeast Missouri share accounts from Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Southeast Missouri State University senior Branton Beard and his friends left Cape Girardeau at 3 am on Wednesday to get to the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade.

“We found a spot in front of the hill where they end the parade,” he said.

This is the exact spot where gunfire rang out at the end of the parade, killing one person and injuring 22 more. 

But Beard and his friends had moved about 20 yards up the hill roughly an hour before the shooting, a move which potentially saved their lives. 

“It’s hard to look back on that and really grasp the entire situation for what it was because you’re that close, so it’s just a big moment that you look back on and you’re thankful for,” Beard said. 

Charleston, Mo., native Derik Davis was also at the parade, though much further away from the shooting than Beard. 

“It just seemed like a whole line of police cars that just didn’t stop,” Davis said. “It was pretty intense, that’s the word for it.” 

Davis said it was a day that took a 180 degree turn on a dime. 

“To celebrate something remarkable like a back-to-back Super Bowl champion and then something like this to happen, it’s crazy,” he said.

And Beard said this is a moment that keeps things in perspective. 

“You take a step back and really evaluate things,” he said. “It just shows you how special life really is.”