By Jim Salter -
The Associated Press
Three Missouri men were indicted on federal charges related to the illegal purchase of high-powered rifles and weapons with extended magazines, following last month's shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade, which left a one person dead, approximately two dozen others injured and sending hundreds of people seeking shelter during the shooting, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
According to court documents published this Wednesday, 12 people brandished firearms and at least six fired shots during the February 14 celebration, which attracted around a million people to downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Among the weapons found at the scene
were at least two AR-15 rifles
, according to court documents.
U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore stated in a news release that at least two of the recovered weapons were acquired illegally.
Police clear the area where the shooting occurred during the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory celebration on Feb. 14, 2024. Associated Press
The federal charges come three weeks after state authorities charged two other men, Lyndell Mays and Dominic Miller, with second-degree murder and several weapons charges in the shooting.
Last month, authorities also detained two minors on charges related to firearms and resisting authority.
According to police, the shooting occurred when a group of people confronted another for staring at them.
Authorities have said a bullet fired from Miller's gun killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan, who was in a nearby crowd watching the demonstration.
Lopez-Galvan was a mother of two and host of a local radio show called
Taste of Tejano
.
According to police, the ages of the injured range from 8 to 47 years old.
Fedo Antonia Manning, 22, Ronnel Dewayne Williams Jr. (21), and Chaelyn Hendrick Groves (19), all of Kansas City, are named in the new federal charges.
Manning is charged with two
counts of conspiracy to traffic firearms
and selling firearms without a license, as well as 10 counts of false statement on a federal form.
Williams and Groves are accused of making false statements regarding the acquisition of firearms and lying to a federal agent.
According to online court records, Manning made his initial appearance Wednesday.
She did not have a lawyer, but she asked that one be appointed for her.
There are also no attorneys in the court record for Williams and Groves who could comment on her behalf.
A phone call to the federal public defender's office in Kansas City on Wednesday was not returned.
The new public complaints filed Wednesday do not allege that the men were among the perpetrators of the shooting.
Instead, they are accused of being involved in
illegal purchases and trafficking of firearms
.
[“They should fix the laws” on guns, says 10-year-old Latino boy shot at Kansas City Chiefs parade]
“Stopping buyers and preventing illegal firearms trafficking is our first line of defense against gun violence,” Moore stated in the press release.
Federal prosecutors indicated that a weapon found at the scene of the celebration was an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223 caliber pistol, which was found next to a wall with a backpack and two AR-15 style firearms and another backpack.
According to the statement, the gun was in the “firing” position with 26 rounds in a 30-round magazine, meaning some shots may have been fired with it.
The affidavit states that Manning purchased the AM-15 at a gun store in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, on August 7, 2022. It
accuses him of illegally trafficking dozens of firearms
, including many AM-15.
Also found at the scene was a Stag Arms .300 caliber pistol that the complaint said was purchased by Williams during a gun show in November.
Prosecutors claim Williams purchased the gun for Groves, who accompanied him to the fair but was too young to legally purchase a gun for himself.
Prosecutors say Manning and Williams also purchased firearm receivers, parts also known as frames, which can be added to others to build a complete gun and are sometimes unregulated.
According to the complaint, Manning was the purchaser of weapons later sold to a confidential informant in a separate investigation.