What should have been a celebratory parade commemorating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory turned tragic on Wednesday as an unknown gunman opened fire on the participants.
According to ESPN, one person is dead and 22 people have been injured as a result of the shooting, with 15 of those injured in life-threatening condition.
Police have taken three people into custody.
Chaos has broken out at the end of the Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Police and military personnel just took off inside of Union Station pic.twitter.com/mqNeodS9r5
— Jacob Meikel (@NPNOWMeikel) February 14, 2024
Though many people are no doubt in shock, at a loss for how to respond to such senseless violence, Chiefs players had the right idea.
Taking to X in the aftermath of the tragedy, quarterback Patrick Mahomes posted, “Praying for Kansas City.”
Praying for Kansas City… 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 14, 2024
Linebacker Drue Tranquill took Mahomes’ sentiments a step further, asking his followers to “please join me in prayer for all the victims in this heinous act. Pray that doctors & first responders would have steady hands & that all would experience full healing.”
Please join me in prayer for all the victims in this heinous act.
Pray that doctors & first responders would have steady hands & that all would experience full healing.
— Drue Tranquill (@DTranquill) February 14, 2024
One user who replied to Tranquill said he had attended the parade. “I would have never thought this fun time of celebration would turn into chaos. Prayers to all the victims,” he posted.
These horrific incidents continue to increase in frequency, one often seeming to follow right after the other.
Indeed, this shooting comes only days after a mentally disturbed woman shot up Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston.
At times like this, when there is no rhyme or reason to be found, turning to God is always the right response.
Regardless of the details of the Kansas City shooting, of which we currently have so few, Tranquill is absolutely right to petition his followers to join him in prayer.
If nothing else, a compelling case can be made that these attacks stem from the despair and nihilism of a godless society.
Granted, shooters are motivated by a variety of reasons, but almost all of them have suicidal tendencies that point to a fundamental and horrifying kind of hopelessness.
By turning to God in the face of these tragedies, we turn to the One who can cure our society of this plague of despair.
Hopefully, more people in Tranquill’s position will use their platforms to encourage others to pray, replacing the nihilism that inspires these horrific acts with faith and hope.
