The Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade ended in tragedy on Wednesday when gunfire rang out, killing one person and injuring 22 others. But the casualty toll could have potentially been higher had it not been for the quick thinking of bystanders who intervened with the gunmen.
Trey Filter of Wichita, KS was responsible for tackling one of the men to the ground. Filter, his wife Casey, and their two sons, ages 12 and 15, had made the three hour drive to attend the celebratory parade. As he later recalled to the New York Post, Filter heard someone yell "Get him!" just seconds before he saw a flash in the crowd.
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"My brain tells me, 'That must be him,'" Filter explained.
In video footage that has since gone viral, the father of two could be seen jumping on the fleeing man and dragging him to the ground before he could make it any further into the crowd. The suspect managed to briefly free himself, but was quickly tackled by a second fan. Filter then jumped back into the fray and began punching the alleged gunman's ribs while Casey grabbed for the gun.
Breaking Video of Heroic Kansas City fans tackling one of the shooters pic.twitter.com/cAxL9Kox8d
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"I literally remember when I was tackling him, 'I sure hope this is who they were yelling at me to get.' Because I just went, 'Boom!'" Filter said. "I really don’t recall seeing him coming."
"I don’t know if I knocked him out when I tackled him or what, but I had him squeezed so hard, he might have been passed out all the time for all I know. I just started racking him in his ribs," Filter continued. "I was just yelling, ‘F your gun!' and I was just hitting him in his ribs. It was great. You know, America stuff."
At that point, Filter didn't realize that his wife had already grabbed the gun, and he continued searching for it on the ground. Once the threat appeared to have been neutralized, Filter stood up to a round of applause. He said he looked around for his two sons and said to them: "Get your mother, we’re getting the f--k out of here."
Filter said he believes the weapon was an AK-47 assault rifle, but police have not confirmed.
A second fan was responsible for taking out another one of the alleged gunmen. Paul Contreras was heading back to his car with his three daughters when he saw one of the suspects attempting to flee.
"It was just a reaction. He was running against … the wrong way and there was another gentleman just screaming out of the top of his lungs, 'Catch this guy, tackle him,'" Contreras recalled to Today on Thursday morning. "And I heard him, and I really wasn’t sure until he came running and I had the perfect angle to do what I did. I took him down."
As he tackled the man, Contreras said he saw the gun fall to the ground. "When I him him, whether I hit it out of his hand or out of his jacket ... I seen it when I was taking him down," he explained. "So I knew right then and there, I’m like OK he’s got one weapon, but this one's on the ground, he may have another one. I need to take him to the ground and I need to keep him on the ground."
Three people have been taken into custody, but authorities have not yet released any information on any of the suspects.
