KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith shared the WWE title belt to help calm a young boy in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the team's Super Bowl celebration.
Smith, who sported the belt during the celebration, noticed the frightened boy, who was with his father.
“I was thinking, what can I do to help him out?” Smith said in an interview Thursday on Good Morning America. “I just handed him the belt: 'Hey buddy, you're the champion. No one's going to hurt you, man. We've got your back.'”
Smith said he talked about wrestling to take the boy's mind off the frightening scene after they were loaded onto a bus. Eight children were among the 21 people wounded and a mother of two was killed in the shooting.
Smith said he and long snapper James Winchester were among those sheltering in a closet and that Winchester “was very instrumental in keeping people calm.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid also took time to comfort others at the scene, including Shawnee Mission East 10th-grader Gabe Wallace.
“Andy Reid was trying to comfort me, which was nice,” Wallace told The Kansas City Star. “He was kind of hugging me, just like, ‘Are you OK, man? Are you OK? Just please breathe.’ He was being real nice and everything.'
“He left to check on other people, I’m pretty sure.”
Investigation Continues
Authorities in Kansas City said Thursday that the mass shooting that unfolded amid throngs of people at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration appeared to stem from a dispute between several people.
Police Chief Stacey Graves said that the 22 people injured in the shooting ranged between the ages of 8 and 47 years old, half of whom were under the age of 16. A mother of two was also killed.
Three people were detained — including two are juveniles — and firearms were recovered during the mayhem, police said. But investigators are calling for witnesses, people with cellphone footage and victims of the violence to call a dedicated hotline.
"We are working to determine the involvement of others. And it should be noted we have recovered several firearms. This incident is still a very active investigation,” Graves said at a news conference
