A heroic Navy veteran believes his military training helped him confront the suspects in the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting, one of whom said he was “basically in the jaw” after being shot. “I had lost my life.”
Lifelong Chiefs fan Tony Janssens told Fox News Digital Some people thought the startling gunshots during the celebration were fireworks.
“It didn’t sound like fireworks to me,” the Navy veteran recalled. “Then I heard a few more shots and that’s when I fell to the ground again.
“I looked to the right, where the gunshots had come from, and saw a man lying on the ground with several bullet holes in his side. He was already lying on his side. I kind of understood it,”’ Janssens continued.
He was horrified to see many in the crowd trying to record the drama on their cell phones.
“Like, this is real life. You have to get out of here. Don’t sit here and try to record or anything. That’s why I’m telling people, ‘Get out!’ Leave! Please leave,” he said.
As Janssens started running, he accidentally hit three suspects, one of whom suffered severe injuries to his face.
“He’s basically missing a jaw and looks weird,” he said of the suspect wearing a backpack.
“He doesn’t know what to do. And his buddies are confused in a way. They’re all like, ‘I don’t know if I should keep running or help my buddy because he’s bleeding. ,” Janssens said.
“I bumped into him, so I kind of backed up a little bit. It’s like I’m backpedaling. I’m watching him and trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said.
“We didn’t know if he was the victim or if he participated in the shooting.”
Veterinarians said military training began and they kept an eye on the injured suspect.
“I saw him hand the bag to the other two people that were with him. And then I saw them run out, take off and try to get away. And they drove into these two semi-trucks. “I was driving towards them and I cut in between these two semi-trucks,” he told the outlet.
One of the men was wearing a Carhartt jacket, which seemed suspicious because it was a comfortable 65 degrees, Janssens said.
He then alerted a state trooper, one of the law enforcement officers gathered at the unfortunate event, about the group.
“‘I think they might be one of them. They look kind of suspicious,'” Janssens reportedly told the officer.
“So as we walk toward him, I’m leading the way. I’m guiding him to his companions. They know we’re walking toward him. “I noticed and started backpedaling a little bit. It looks like he’s hiding something in his jacket,” he said.
When the men started running, Janssens and the police chased them.
“I’m jumping over barricades, running down the street, trying to eliminate people. I’m chasing them, yelling, ‘Get this guy!’ Catch this guy! ” he said.
The veterinarian said he yelled for help from several other people to deal with the suspect.
“Fortunately, the other four people heard me. And they turned around and said they heard me yelling to tackle this guy. I saw him, and luckily they just stepped up and helped me work on him,” he told FOX News Digital.
“As they were tackling him, I think I saw another guy running away as well. So I kept chasing that guy and in the end it was just a dead chase. So I I rushed back and helped them try to maintain the situation until the police arrived,” he added.
Janssens said when the situation was resolved, he noticed a bag containing an AR-style rifle and an extended magazine, but it was unclear whether those were used in the shooting.
“I wasn’t thinking of going out and doing anything heroic or anything like that, so I kind of just started doing it,” he told the outlet, adding that he wanted to do better to help his team win the Super Bowl again. It added that it urged stakeholders to adopt safety measures. next year.
“I’m confident that Kansas City will come together and we’ll all get through this together and work together to get answers and try to make sure this never happens again,” he said. said.
The shooting, which left one person dead and nearly 20 injured, was the result of a personal dispute that escalated into violence, officials said Thursday. Three people were detained.
