Trey Smith, an offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, said that he helped comfort a child during the shooting that broke out at Wednesday’s Super Bowl parade.
Smith detailed his experience at the parade, telling “Good Morning America” on Thursday morning that once the Chiefs players were given the green light to go to the team’s buses after the shooting, there were scared bystanders on the buses staying there for shelter. A little boy and his father were on the bus and Smith said the boy was “panicked.”
Smith had a WWE belt that he was wearing the entire parade, so he handed it to the little boy.
“What can I do to help him out,” Smith said. “I just handed him the belt. ‘Hey buddy, you’re the champion. No one’s going to hurt you, man.’”
“We just started talking about wrestling,” Smith said. “You know, who’s your favorite wrestler, your favorite wrestling match, and just little things like that to take his mind off of it.”
Smith said that when the shooting first broke out, security told Smith and other Chiefs players to find shelter.
“This is not a joke,” Smith said. “This is a life-or-death situation.”
Smith and other players found shelter in a nearby closet. Smith said there was a little boy in front of him, so Smith grabbed him and took him in the closet with him.
Smith said there were about 20 people in the closet, including his teammate James Winchester, who Smith said was “instrumental” in helping keep people calm.
At least one person was killed and 21 wounded during Wednesday’s shooting. Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, said that even with 800 police officers at the parade, it’s still possible for a shooting to happen.
“What you saw happen was why people talk about guns a lot,” he said. “We had over 800 officers there staffed, situated all around Union Station today. We had security in any number of places, eyes on top of buildings and beyond. And there is still a risk to people.”
Smith said he is “pretty angry” about the shooting, but that Kansas City is going to “stand up together” and “be strong.”
“It’s senseless violence,” Smith said. “Someone lost their life today. You have children that are injured. You have children that are traumatized. I’m hurting for one, the families, the people that got impacted, the city of Kansas City.”