‘We wanna be a survivor.’ Mental health resources available for parade shooting witnesses

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - It’s been two weeks since the fatal shooting at the Chiefs Victory Parade. Mental health experts say this is a point in time when witnesses and victims are starting to process the traumatic events they experienced.

“He just says, the fireworks burned me mommy, but I didn’t die and a four-year-old should never have to say that ever,” said witness Kourtney King.

There’s an old expression that time heals all wounds, but for King and her four-year-old son, two weeks is too early to tell.

“We saw everything. We saw the altercation and that’s when I had freaked out, and told my husband ‘babe we need to get back, there’s about to be an altercation, something’s about to happen,’” said King.

She says she’s been reliving those moments in her mind for the past fourteen days.

“You go through those 48 hours of the initial shock then the small details start to come back,” said King.

The items she and her family brought with them that day serves as a daily reminder of how divine intervention saved their lives. Chiefs’ t-shirts, a blanket, and the wagon her son sat in are now all pierced with bullet holes.

“As a family, I think we’re just trying to process and we’re trying to move forward with life. We don’t wanna be stuck in the victim mindset. We wanna be a survivor of this unfortunate event that took place,” said King.

They’re not alone. The Children’s Place says now is when parents should keep an eye out for signs of acute stress disorder in their children. This shows up as having intrusive thoughts about a traumatic event or difficulty sleeping and eating.

“I would say that we’ve gotten several calls over the past two weeks and then with our kiddos who already come here, some of them have been talking about it, some of them were there so we’re just making sure that we’re just wrapping them around with good services, making sure that we’re giving them good resources if we need to,” said family support services director Candis Boiley.

There are free sources offered through The Children’s Place for families who need them.

“If adults are kind of having those same similar signs or symptoms, they also can seek professional help but for parents to be able to see it within their kiddos, just making sure that they’re reassuring their kiddo that they are safe, that this is okay, talking about it,” said Boiley.

For more information about The Children’s Place, visit their website.