After the Super Bowl parade shooting Wednesday, Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith opened up on “Good Morning America” on Thursday about the tragedy that resulted in one death and injured at least 22 people.
Smith detailed that he and his teammates were not aware there was an active shooter until they were making their way off the stage at Union Station.
“I just remember the security guards ushering us through the doors quickly, saying, ‘Come on, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up,'” Smith said. “They said, ‘This is not a joke. It’s a life and death situation.'”
Smith, 24, also shared that he and a teammate took shelter in a closet while helping others as much as they could.
“Right before I run in there, there’s a little kid in front of me so I just grabbed him and yanked him up and said, ‘You’re hopping in here with me, buddy,'” Smith said. “I don’t know how many people were in the closet, maybe 20-plus.”
When it was safe, Smith and the others in the closet headed to the Chiefs’ team buses, which were also filled with bystanders, and Smith remembered running into a “hysterical” young fan.
“This little boy was with his father. He was a little hysterical. He just panicked. He was scared. He doesn’t know what’s going on,” Smith said. “I had the WWE belt the entire parade and I was thinking, what can I do to help him out? I just handed him the belt and said, ‘Hey buddy, you’re the champion. No one is gonna hurt you. No one’s gonna hurt you, man. We got your back.'”
On the bus, Smith kept trying to distract the young boy away from the chaotic scenes outside the window by asking him questions about wrestling.
He also credited long snapper James Winchester for being “very instrumental” in helping others around them remain as calm as possible.
Nine children were injured in the shooting and Chiefs fan Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two and a local DJ, died during surgery after suffering a gunshot wound in the abdomen, according to the Kansas City Star.
“I’m pretty angry. Due to senseless violence, someone lost their life … Children are injured. Children are traumatized,” Smith said. “I’m hurting for, one, the families of the people who got impacted, [and two,] the city of Kansas City.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade and the arrest of the shooting suspect:
- Lisa Lopez-Galvan, Kansas City Chiefs superfan and mom of 2, killed in Super Bowl parade shooting: ‘Most wonderful, beautiful person’
- Heroic Kansas City Chiefs fans tackle fleeing suspected gunman after Super Bowl Parade shooting, wild video shows
- Revelers recall terrifying moment gunfire erupted at Kansas City Chiefs parade: ‘Felt like a sitting duck’
- All 12 children injured in Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting discharged from hospital: ‘Great news’
- Two adults charged with murder in deadly Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting
- Alleged KC Chiefs parade shooter told cops he was ‘just being stupid’: court docs
- COLUMN: Super Bowl parade shooting turning celebration into crime scene changes everything
What was supposed to be a celebratory parade for the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl victory in the last five years, began at 11 a.m. central before gun shots rang out after the rally at Union Station.
Smith, along with his teammates and their families were “safe and accounted for,” the Chiefs announced Wednesday.
