Nine children were among those shot at Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration

Jacob Gooch Jr. had been enjoying the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade with his dad, stepmom and siblings when a gunman began shooting about 15-feet away from where his family was standing.

The family ran in different directions, with Jacob, 13, losing his shoes as they scattered. It wasn't until later, when they reunited, that he realized he'd been shot — among a dozen children who had been injured in the shooting and its aftermath. A bullet is still lodged in his foot.

His father, Jacob Gooch, 37, and stepmother, Emily Tavis, 32, both of whom were also shot, relayed accounts of the day, describing their horror and devastation as the celebration in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, turned into tragedy.

“It’s just senseless. You’re not going to make sense of it,” said Gooch, who was shot in the right ankle and was using crutches Thursday. Tavis was shot in her right leg.

Jacob was one of at least 12 children injured Wednesday. People under the age of 16 accounted for half of the more than 20 people injured, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a Thursday morning news conference. The injured range in age from 8 to 47, the chief said.

Children’s Mercy Hospital said that it had received 12 patients from the celebration, 11 of whom are 6 to 15 years old. Nine of them were shot, a spokesperson for the Kansas City hospital said Thursday. Three children remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon, Stephanie Meyer, the hospital's chief nursing officer said at a news conference. They are "doing well" and are all expected to recover, Meyer said.

The reason for the discrepancy between the police and the hospital's account of the youngest child injured is unclear.

Bridget Barton said she was at the