The Kansas City Chiefs organization addressed the decision to keep last summer’s shooting at the team’s facility a secret from the public.
Chiefs president, Mark Donovan, said the team had multiple conversations about how to handle the shooting, which occurred in May 2024. Gunfire hit three locations at the facility, including one bullet that penetrated the glass of head coach Andy Reid’s office while he was inside.
“We called down to our experts very quickly, at all levels, regionally and nationally and we sat down and assessed the situation,” Donovan, 59, said Thursday, August 21, at the team’s annual kickoff luncheon in downtown Kansas City. “We cooperated with the [Kansas City Police Department], went through the investigation, and we went back and said, “Here’s where we are, here’s the situation. Here’s what we determined happened.’
Donovan continued, “What’s the next step? From a PR standpoint, from a communications standpoint, we made our decisions and we moved on.”
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As the Chiefs prepare to welcome the Chicago Bears to Arrowhead Stadium for the team’s final preseason game on Friday, August 22, Donovan insisted Chiefs Kingdom has no need to be fearful.
“Tomorrow night there will be 70,000 people in that stadium,” he said. “Our job is to keep them safe. Rest assured we invest everything we possibly can to make that happen.”
Donovan added, “I’ll make this final point, every single year we’ve got to evolve, we have to enhance, we have to increase, we’ve got to spend to make sure we’re as safe as possible. And we’ve done that.“
The Chiefs open the regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil, on September 5. The team returns to Kansas City for their home opener on September 14, in a rematch from last year’s Super Bowl against the champion Philadelphia Eagles.
News of last summer’s shooting was broken by the Kansas City Star on Wednesday, August 21.
The outlet reported that the incident was even kept private from most team members and employees.
Reid, 67, was working alone inside his office when a bullet was fired from the outside of the building and broke through the glass.
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The bullet lodged in a wall between his bathroom and the entry door to Reid’s office, roughly 15 feet from where the head coach was sitting at his desk. Reid was not struck or injured by the bullet, according to a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department.
Two other bullets struck the facility on the same day, with one hitting the floor above Reid’s office and another hitting an outdoor air conditioning unit.
No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing.
“There is no indication this was a targeted incident at any person or organization,” Kansas City Police Department spokesperson Captain Jacob Becchina told the Star. “Because the building was occupied at the time of the bullet coming through the window, the case is being investigated as an aggravated assault.”
