It was just like any other Tuesday night. Elizabeth “Lisa” Lopez-Galvan was on air for her weekly radio show, “A Taste of Tejano,” sharing her love of music. The program features Tejano music, a “Tex-Mex” fusion of Mexican and American musical influences.
“Let us know if you have a birthday, anniversary or special announcement!” Lopez-Galvan wrote on Facebook before her show, as she often did.
Once the show was over, she and her co-host, Tommy Andrade, parted ways — not knowing that it would be their last time together.
Lopez-Galvan’s life was cut short Wednesday afternoon, after a shooting at a rally that followed a parade marking the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, transforming a moment of joy and celebration into one of pain and loss.
End of carouselThousands of fans had gathered downtown to celebrate the Chiefs’ win when shots rang out near the city’s Union Station around 2 p.m. local time. Red-clad crowds ran for safety as police drew their guns.
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Police said one person was killed and 22 were injured but have not named any of the victims. Their ages range from 8 to 47 years old.
The shooting stemmed from a dispute among “several” people and spilled into the crowd, police said in a news conference Thursday. Two of those in custody are minors. Police said the shooting had no connection to terrorism.
The station where Lopez-Galvan worked, KKFI, announced her death “with sincere sadness and an extremely heavy and broken heart,” adding: “This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community.”
Lopez-Galvan, 43, a mother of two, volunteered on the show before joining as a full-time programmer and co-host about two years ago, said Andrade, her co-host and family friend, remembering her as a kind person with an infectious smile. “She treated everyone she knew and loved as close family,” he told The Washington Post. “She will be missed.”
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According to Lopez-Galvan’s radio station, her adult son was shot in the leg at the rally but had been released from the hospital.
In a statement, the Lopez-Galvan family said: “We thank the community for their prayers and support during this difficult time. We are heartbroken with the loss of our loved one … who was an amazing mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend to so many.”
“We ask to please keep our family in your prayers as we grieve the loss of Lisa’s death while also supporting our other loved ones who were impacted in this senseless act,” the statement said.
Share this articleShareJackson County legislator Manny Abarca attended the parade but said he didn’t hear any of the gunshots. All he heard were screams — people yelling run, there’s a gun, call the police.
Later, Abarca learned that Lopez-Galvan, someone he had known for more than a decade, had been killed.
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Lopez-Galvan enchanted those she met with “her smile, her laugh, her passion for music,” Abarca said. “It’s what we’ll all remember.”
Abarca choked up as he recalled his conversation Wednesday with one of Lopez-Galvan’s cousins. Both broke down in tears. Then the cousin told him: “What you need to do is do your job and change this.”
Lisa Lopez, a longtime friend of Lopez-Galvan’s and employee of the Kansas City Star, described her as “the most wonderful, beautiful person.”
“She was a local DJ. She did everybody’s weddings. We all know her. She was so full of life,” Lopez told the newspaper.
Throughout her life, serving others was a key part of Lopez-Galvan’s life — from assisting people who didn’t speak English as a court clerk, to helping people in her community find jobs, according to a 2021 profile in the local newspaper Dos Mundos. She was bilingual in English and Spanish, her profile on KKFI said.
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In an interview with Kansas City Hispanic News late last year, Lopez-Galvan credited her father, who played in local Mexican bands after arriving in Kansas City in his youth, for her love of music.
“I just want to thank him, because if it wasn’t for him and the music I listened to growing up, I wouldn’t have this passion for music,” she said.
The last Facebook post she wrote before her final show — where she asked for birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions — has now become a place for people to mourn a woman they never knew.
But for those who listened or knew her, it’s also a place to remember a kind individual who “always wanted to help others,” as one person wrote.
“I will always remember your big smile and your laugh!” another tribute read.
“Rest in peace, my friend.”
Praveena Somasundaram, Reis Thebault and Des Bieler contributed to this report.
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