Two Kansas City Chiefs fans are heartbroken that their perfect wedding celebrating both Valentine’s Day and their favorite team’s Super Bowl victory was upended by a shooting that left one dead and 22 others injured.
Bob and Sami Wheeler, of Kansas City, threw away plans for a small courthouse wedding and chose to tie the knot at Union Station when they learned that their beloved Chiefs were going to the Super Bowl.
“When the Chiefs went to the Super Bowl, we realized that a championship parade was possible on Valentine’s Day, and she agreed to have it there,” Bob, a Chief’s fan of 23 years, told the Post.
Surrounded by more than a million people cheering on the champions, the Wheelers set up their impromptu wedding at the lawn of the World War I Memorial, where they carried a “Love-bardi” trophy and had their guests sign their names on a Chiefs’ helmet.
Bob was sporting a Chiefs’ tracksuit and Sami was donning a red, bedazzled Chiefs-themed dress she had shipped overnight. The guests were all asked to wear the Chiefs’ colors as well.
Everything was going just as they hoped, but as their spot started to get overcrowded, the group decided to end the celebration and go out for dinner. That’s when the gunfire started.
“We were at the top of the hill, just 15 minutes away from where we were by where the gunshots rang out,” Bob said of the tragedy that marred his wedding day.
While Bob initially believed what they heard was fireworks, his family learned the truth when they went home and saw the tragedy that unfolded near them being replayed on the news.
Later, they would learn that two men got into an argument, with arrested gunman Lyndell Mays allegedly admitting he was acting “stupid” when he fired his weapon and triggered the gunfight.
“Unfortunately, it seems you can’t get that many people together in one place without something like this happening,” Bob said of the mass shooting.
Although the Wheelers said they were still coming to terms with everything that happened on their wedding day, Bob hopes that the love he and his wife shared that day can inspire people to look for the good in the world.
“The whole day was filled with a lot of love, and I don’t want people thinking that all there is out there are the bad things that happen,” he said. “There’s still good out there.”
Mays, 23, and the other gunman, Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with second-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
The victim in the shooting was identified as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 43, a mother of two.
