'Sahil Omar' not named suspect in Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting | Fact check
The claim: Migrant 'Sahil Omar' identified as suspect in Kansas City parade shooting
A Feb. 15 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows police officers detaining a man dressed in a red sweatshirt and pants.
"At least one of the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooters identified as Sahil Omar, a 44 year old illegal immigrant," reads text included in the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Biden has failed to protect America from invasion and terrorism."
The Instagram post was liked more than 500 times in one day. The X post was reposted more than 10,000 times before it was deleted.
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Our rating: False
A police spokesperson said there's no indication that the claim is accurate. The name "Sahil Omar" also circulated online after previous mass casualty events.
No suspects announced by Kansas City police, spokesperson says
One woman was killed and more than 20 people were injured in a shooting at a celebration for the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Feb. 14.
In a Feb. 15 email, Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department, said the department has not released the names of any suspects or people arrested in the case.
"That information would not be publicly available until charges are filed," Gonzalez said. "There is no indication that this claim is accurate."
This isn't the first time the name Sahil Omar has circulated online after a shooting.
Paste BN previously debunked a claim that alleged a 44-year-old migrant named "Sahil Omar" was linked to an explosion that happened at a hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 8. The name was also wrongly identified as a suspect in the December 2023 University of Nevada, Las Vegas, shooting.
Fact check: No suspect named Sahil Omar identified by police after Fort Worth explosion
The photo of the man in the Instagram post was taken by an AFP photographer at the incident, but the news organization did not identify the man.
Police detained three people – including two juveniles – at the rally, and authorities said the gunfire arose from a dispute between several people, Paste BN reported in a Feb. 15 article. Stacey Graves, the Kansas City police chief, said then that no one had been charged yet in connection with the shooting and that "there was no nexus to terrorism or home-grown violent extremism," according to the article.
The Instagram user who shared the photo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
- Alayna Gonzalez, Feb. 15, Email exchange with Paste BN
- Paste BN, Feb. 15, Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally shooting stemmed from personal dispute: Live updates
- The Associated Press, Feb. 15, Shooting after Chiefs Super Bowl parade seemed to stem from dispute among several people, police say
- AFP, Feb. 14, TOPSHOTS - AMFOOT - SUPERBOWL - CHIEFS
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