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Chiefs lineman Trey Smith shares WWE title belt with frightened boy after parade shooting
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Date:2025-04-17 15:17:52
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith shared the WWE title belt to help calm a young boy in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the team’s Super Bowl celebration.
Smith, who sported the belt during the celebration, noticed the frightened boy, who was with his father.
“I was thinking, what can I do to help him out?” Smith said in an interview Thursday on Good Morning America. “I just handed him the belt: ‘Hey buddy, you’re the champion. No one’s going to hurt you, man. We’ve got your back.’”
The shooting left 22 people injured, half of them under the age of 16, Police Chief Stacey Graves said. A mother of two was also killed.
Smith said he talked about wrestling to take the boy’s mind off the frightening scene after they were loaded onto a bus.
Smith said he and long snapper James Winchester were among those sheltering in a closet and that Winchester “was very instrumental in keeping people calm.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid also took time to comfort others at the scene, including Shawnee Mission East 10th-grader Gabe Wallace.
“Andy Reid was trying to comfort me, which was nice,” Wallace told The Kansas City Star. “He was kind of hugging me, just like, ‘Are you OK, man? Are you OK? Just please breathe.’ He was being real nice and everything.’
“He left to check on other people, I’m pretty sure.”
Three people were detained and firearms were recovered during the mayhem at Union Station.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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