FACT CHECK: Viral X Image Falsely Labels Sahil Omar As Suspect In Super Bowl Parade Shooting
A viral image shared on X purports to show Sahil Omar, the alleged suspect behind a recent shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade.
🚨 BREAKING
HERE IS A NEW PHOTO OF SAHIL OMAR – THE 44 YEAR OLD
MIGRANT WHO IS SUSPECTED TO BE THE SHOOTER AT THE KANSAS CITY SUPERBOWL PARADE – AFTER BEING ARRESTED #KansasCity #Shooter #Shooting pic.twitter.com/aggD65gtiq— Praveer Tiwari (@therealpraveer) February 14, 2024
Verdict: False
The image, which originally stems from Getty Images, shows an unidentified male who was arrested for drunkenness at the parade. In an email to Check Your Fact, a Kansas City Police Department spokesperson denied an individual named Omar was involved with the shooting.
Fact Check:
Police have not yet brought charges against the alleged suspects involved in a shooting that occurred at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, according to Fox News. One person was killed, and 22 others were injured as a result of the incident, the outlet reported.
“BREAKING HERE IS A NEW PHOTO OF SAHIL OMAR – THE 44 YEAR OLD MIGRANT WHO IS SUSPECTED TO BE THE SHOOTER AT THE KANSAS CITY SUPERBOWL PARADE – AFTER BEING ARRESTED,” the X post, viewed over 82,000 times, purports. The post features an image of an unidentified male wearing a red sweatsuit with his arms behind his back while police guard the area.
The claim is false, however. The image, which originally stems from Getty Images, shows an unidentified male who was arrested for drunkenness at the parade.
“A person is detained by police near the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade on February 14, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri. Shots were reportedly fired during the parade, according to police. Local media reports after the incident report that the man was arrested for drunkenness and was released,” the image’s caption reads.
Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports linking anyone named Omar to the shooting at the parade. In fact, the opposite is true. Snopes, USA Today, and The Associated Press all published articles labeling the claim as false. Additionally, Snopes indicated how the purported individual has been linked to other events, such as a December 2023 shooting at the University of Nevada and a January 2024 explosion at a hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.
Furthermore, the Kansas City Police Department has not named the purported individual Omar as a suspect in the shooting. (RELATED: Image Of Jason Kelce Dressed As ‘The Hangover’ Character Is Edited)
Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department, denied an individual named Omar was involved with the shooting in an email to Check Your Fact.
“We have seen that image, yes,” Becchina said of the viral X image. “The two people that remain in custody are juveniles, thus not the individual named Omar. There’s no indication that person is involved in the shooting,” he said.