15 February 2024 , 22:01
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Kansas City is mourning a mom and prominent Latina DJ who died in a mass shooting after the Chiefs' victory parade, as tributes pour in.
DJ and mother Lisa Lopez-Galvan was a music lover and DJ in the Kansas City area who was a well-known performer at weddings, quinceaneras and an American Legion bar and grill. Bringing together Tejano, Mexican and Spanish music with R&B and hip-hop in her performances, she also volunteered as a host on a radio program.
A devoted fan of Kansas City's professional sports teams she joined her husband and young adult son at a parade Wednesday at the city's Union Station to celebrate the Chiefs' Super Bowl win, where she tragically lost her life in a mass shooting.
She was one of 23 people shot when the parade ended in gunfire. Lopez-Galvan's radio station, KKFI-FM, confirmed her death today.
Colleagues Rosa Izurieta and Martha Ramirez worked with Lopez-Galvan at a local staffing firm, and had known her since childhood. They have spoken out today, sharing their memories of her as an extrovert and a strong Catholic devoted to her family who was passionate about connecting job seekers with employment and ready to help anyone.
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The mother of two was out celebrating the win with her family (LISA LOPEZ-GALVAN/FACEBOOK)They explained that working part time playing music allowed the mother of two to share her passion as one of the area's few Latina DJs.
"She was definitely a pioneer. She knew how to get people going," Ramirez said.
"She was always really good about shouting out people's birthdays and just making people feel included and loved."
"She's the type of person who would jump in front of a bullet for anybody - that would that would be Lisa," Izurieta said. "We're still trying to figure out what happened, how it happened. But some of us are thinking she would have been that person that would have jumped in front of anybody - you know, just to save a life."
The shooting appears to be related to a personal dispute (AFP via Getty Images)Victims of the shocking shooting ranged in age from 8 to 47, and half were under 16, police said. Izurieta said her friends believe Lopez-Galvan was shot in the chest and that her son was also shot. Three people were detained and police said the Superbowl parade shooting appeared to stem from a dispute between several people, and was not terror related.
"This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community," the radio station she performs with said.
Her family's musical influence on the city runs deep and Izurieta and Ramirez said her father founded the city's first mariachi group, Mariachi Mexico, in the 1980s, and the family is well-known and active in the Latino community. Her brother, Beto Lopez, is the CEO of the Guadalupe Centers, which provides community services and runs charter schools for the Latino community.
Lopez-Galvan and her two children attended Bishop Miege, a Catholic high school in a suburb on the Kansas side, and she worked for years as a clerk in a police department there.
She was a huge Chiefs fan (LISA LOPEZ-GALVAN/FACEBOOK)"This is another example of a real loving, real human whose life was taken tragically with a senseless act," Beto Lopez said in an ABC interview on Thursday.
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As tributes began to emerge, Izurieta described Lopez-Galvan as having "a selfless heart" and as being "very giving." She recalled that in 2022, a pregnant co-worker did not seem to have many friends in the area, so Lopez-Galvan organized a baby shower for her.
Friends and family are planning to organize a vigil or memorial to honor the memory of Lopez-Galvan.