Officials in Kansas City, Mo., are praising the heroic efforts of several bystanders who were filmed tackling a suspected shooter during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade on Wednesday.
During a press conference Thursday, Kansas City police Chief Stacey Graves said 22 people were injured in the shooting. The victim’s ages ranged between eight and 47 years old, though half were under the age of 16. A 43-year-old mother of two was killed.
Graves commended both the response of law enforcement officers and fans who supported one another during the panic amid the shooting near the landmark Union Station.
She said some Chiefs fans “even physically stopped a person who was believed to be involved in the incident.”
Graves called the shooting “a tragic event in a time that was meant for celebration.”
In footage filmed from above the street-level chaos, several people can be seen as they chase and tackle someone to the ground. As the suspected shooter is restrained and held to the grass, a woman in a ballcap is seen picking up what appears to be a rifle.
Paul Contreras, who tackled the suspected shooter, struggled to speak about the incident through tears.
“It was just a reaction,” he told NBC, adding that the suspect had been running against the flow of traffic.
Contreras said he tackled the suspected shooter after another man identified them as the culprit and shouted for someone to stop the person from fleeing.
“I really wasn’t sure until he came running and I had a perfect angle to do what I did,” he said. “I took him down.”
Trey Filter, another who assisted in the tackling, echoed Contreras’s words about acting out of instinct.
“I didn’t see him coming, I just saw a flash,” Filter said.
Filter said their “focus was just to keep him down and make sure he didn’t go anywhere.”
The shooting is believed to have stemmed from a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire, police said, ruling out terrorism.
Three people were detained by police, including two minors. Several weapons were also recovered.
The investigation is ongoing.
Investigators are calling for witnesses to Wednesday’s shooting, asking people with cellphone footage and victims of the violence to call a dedicated hotline at 816-413-3477.
On Sunday, the Chiefs triumphed 25-22 over the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 Super Bowl.
— with files from The Associated Press