MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Shock gave way to grief last night in Kansas City, Mo., as the community turned out for a vigil to honor Lisa Lopez-Galvan.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The 43-year-old mother, community leader and radio host died in Wednesday's shooting. The violence broke out at a parade held in celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win.
MARTIN: NPR's Brian Mann is in Kansas City this morning. Good morning, Brian.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So you were at last night's vigil. Thank you for that. What did you hear?
MANN: Yeah. People in Kansas City, especially in the Hispanic community, really adored Lisa Lopez-Galvan. They described her as one of those people who just kind of connect everybody and put all the pieces together. And Christina Nunez grew up with her and said Lopez-Galvan was at her wedding.
CHRISTINA NUNEZ: She was here to do good. This was senseless - senseless. And it's just so hard to understand.
MANN: Twenty-three people were victims of this violence, half of them, Michel, under the age of 16. And one thing I heard last night is that people here just don't feel safe. Isabella Videz was at the Chiefs victory celebration. And then one day later, she was at this vigil.
ISABELLA VIDEZ: Just sucks - and being so scared. And I'm 23. I grew up when Sandy Hook happened. It feels like nothing ever changes. And I just - I wanted to come out 'cause it's like - it's a very lonely feeling. And I didn't want to be alone.
MANN: So people did gather. They wrapped arms around each other. They held candles that they had to kind of shelter with their hands against the winter wind that was blowing last night.
MARTIN: I understand that there are two people in custody - two juveniles in custody. Do we know any more about what led to this episode of violence?
MANN: Yeah. Police here say this appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire. We don't have a lot of details. They say prosecutors who specialize in working with juveniles are now part of the investigation, trying to figure out what charges might be filed. There was a third suspect, an adult, detained after the shooting. That individual was released yesterday. Police now believe that person was not involved in the violence. There was one hopeful development yesterday, Michel. Of nearly 30 people admitted to area hospitals, about two-thirds have been released as of yesterday. About eight people, some of them kids, however, are still in the hospital.
MARTIN: Brian, we had Kansas City's mayor, Quinton Lucas, on All Things Considered last night, and he expressed, you know, sorrow and frustration at the - just the level of gun violence in his community. I just want to play a little bit of what he said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
QUINTON LUCAS: When you have 850 officers and folks who will act recklessly nearby them who can still get off enough rounds to hit almost two dozen people within just a matter of moments, that tells us that the guns, that the types of guns that we have and their accessibility - easy availability is a problem.
MARTIN: So, Brian, I was just wondering what you heard at the vigil last night. Do people there think that there are answers?
MANN: Yeah. A lot of people at this gathering, Michel, were calling for tougher gun laws. Right now, there are very few restrictions on carrying firearms in this Republican-controlled state, though it does remain to be seen how these underage individuals might have acquired the guns allegedly used in this shooting. One other thing people were talking about a lot at this gathering was finding ways to de-escalate conflicts and rivalries among young people here. Community leaders say these disputes are leading to a lot of shootings - a record number of murders in Kansas City last year, more than 180, many involving firearms. Again, police haven't said exactly what kind of argument sparked this violence. We know very little about the suspects except that they appear to be young.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Brian Mann in Kansas City, Mo. Brian, thank you.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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