More than a million Cleveland sports fans crammed downtown to celebrate the Cavaliers’ NBA title in 2016.
Eight years later, after two men shot and killed one person and wounded 22 during the Feb. 14 Super Bowl parade for the Kansas City Chiefs, some people would think twice before attending another Cleveland celebration.
The two teenage suspects were charged with murder in the Kansas City shooting and will be tried as adults. The shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups of fans. The estimated parade attendance was 1 million people.
History teacher Paul Kelly attended the Cavs celebration in 2016. He said he would not do so again. “I wouldn’t go back, not after 2016; there’s just no way you can keep that many people safe,” Kelly said.
While championship parades are common events for Chiefs fans, titles are rare in Cleveland. The Cavs 2016 celebration drew 1.3 million people, according to Cleveland.com. Near the culmination of the 2016 parade, a boy was arrested for firing two shots outside of Tower City.
The Super Bowl parade shooting was the 3,639th mass shooting event in which four or more people were killed or injured in the United States since the Cavs parade.
When a mass gathering occurs in a city, police departments from surrounding areas send officers to ensure safety. “We have to have all hands on deck,” Shaker Heights police officer Davonne Singleton said. “Every district and platoon has to help out with an event like that.” Singleton also said that as a fan, he’d watch the parade from home.
Not all Cleveland fans would feel unsafe at a parade downtown. “I’d still go, but if there were a possibly dangerous situation, I would leave as quickly as possible,” senior Kyle Waites said.
Kelly said it’s too easy for a situation like the shooting in Kansas City to occur. “I would not want my kids to go to a parade,” he said. “It just takes one angry person to pull out a gun and cause an issue.”

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