Chiefs parade shooting: Previous sports-related events have been disrupted by violence

Crowds in Kansas City celebrating the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory during a parade on Wednesday instead became part of another tragic event after shots were fired.

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One person was killed and at least 21 others were wounded by gunfire as the parade ended outside Union Square in Kansas City. While the shooting was not part of the actual game, it was an incident that brought back memories of other acts of violence connected to sporting events.

Here is a look at a few of them since 1970.

1972 Munich Olympics

Eleven members of Israel’s Olympic team and four Arab terrorists were killed in September 1972 at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, The New York Times reported.

Eight Palestinian terrorists from the militant group “Black September” originally broke into the Olympic Village on Sept. 5 where athletes were housed, killing two and taking nine hostages, according to the Olympics website.

Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano, who had both fought back against the attackers, were the two members originally killed, NPR reported.

The terrorists were disguised as athletes and used stolen keys to force their way into the athletes’ rooms, according to Brittanica.

The 23-hour standoff ended in a shootout at a military airport 15 miles from the Olympic Village early on Sept. 6, with the remaining nine hostages killed. The terrorists were preparing to fly to Cairo, Egypt, with the hostages.

ABC sportscaster Jim McKay was on the air for 14 straight hours and delivered the news that Palestinian terrorists had killed the nine remaining hostages.

“They’re all gone,” McKay said.

1996 Atlanta Olympics

During the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, a bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, on July 27, 1996, according to the FBI website.

The blast killed one person and injured more than 100 others.

Before the bomb detonated, Eric Robert Rudolph twice called 911 to warn about the bomb.

From 1996 to 1998, Rudolph placed two more bombs in Georgia and one in Birmingham, Alabama. One person was killed and several others were wounded as a result.

Described by the FBI as a “skilled outdoorsman,” Rudolph eluded law enforcement officials while hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina.

On May 31, 2003, Rudolph was arrested while rummaging through a trash bin behind a grocery store in Murphy, North Carolina.

He pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the four bombings and is currently serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Richard Jewell, a security guard, was originally suspected of the bombings, CNN reported. He was cleared after 12 weeks by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“I am not the Olympic Park bomber,” Jewell told reporters after he was cleared, according to CNN. “I am a man who has lived 88 days afraid of being arrested for a crime I did not commit.”

2002 Champions League

On May 1, 2002, Real Madrid and Barcelona were set to meet in a Champions League semifinal match.

Hours before the match at Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, a bomb exploded near the venue, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Seventeen people were injured, but the match was played after officials with the UEFA Champions League said they were satisfied with security checks around the stadium.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Real Madrid advancing to the title match after winning 3-1 on aggregate over the two legs of the tournament, according to CNN.

2013 Boston Marathon

On April 15, 2013, two brothers detonated two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds, Sports Illustrated reported. Seventeen of the injured victims lost limbs, according to the magazine.

Approximately five hours into the race, the first bomb exploded on the north side of Boylston Street about a half block from the finish line, according to Brittanica. A second bomb exploded about 12 seconds later, approximately 600 feet from the first one.

One of the brothers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died after a gun battle with police several days after the attack, according to NPR. He and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were the only suspects in the bombing.

More than 26,000 runners participated in the 117th version of the race in 2013, according to Brittanica.

In 2022, the Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of helping to carry out the bombing, The New York Times reported.

The vote was 6-3.

“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority. “The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one.”

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