‘I went for him’: Hero Kansas City Chiefs fan says he tackled suspected gunman on instinct

Kansas City fan Trey Filter told The Independent that he was ‘fully adrenalised’ as he held down a Super Bowl parade shooting suspect, while his wife Casey grabbed the firearm

Trey Filter was standing among a sea of around one million people who lined the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade route on Wednesday when he heard the shots ring out.

The lifelong Chiefs fan initially thought it was firecrackers going off, before a sense of panic swept through the crowd.

“There was a huge commotion. It felt like there was a rat loose or something,” he told The Independent in a phone interview on Thursday morning.

Mr Filter, who was attending Wednesday’s victory parade with his wife Casey and their sons Gage, 15, and Levi, 12, said dozens of crowdgoers began rushing past them.

He heard the crowd yelling “get him, get him”, and turned around to see a “flash” as a person ran past.

“My brain was just doing the math and I went for him.”

Dramatic footage posted to social media captured the moment Mr Filter and a second man Paul Contreras tackled the suspect.

The suspect’s handgun fell out as he went to theground, and Mr Filter said his quick-thinking wife Casey picked it up and took it out of reach.

Kansas City Chiefs fans Trey and Casey Filter helped to prevent an even greater tragedy at Wednesday’s Super Bowl parade shooting (NewsNation / Screengrab)

Mr Filter said he was “fully adrenalised” and had acted on instinct. “It was crazy. The crowd was yelling ‘gun’ and then my wife grabbed the gun and dragged it over by the wall.”

He and Mr Contreras restrained the man as he fought desperately to break free until police arrived about 30 seconds later.

“We were just super glad that a cop finally showed up, because we thought (the suspect) still had a gun,” Mr Filter said.

One person was shot dead and 22 were injured in Wednesday’s parade shooting (Reuters)

In a separate interview with CNN, Mr Contreras said he noticed the individual running and hit him from behind, jolting the gun out of his grasp.

Mr Contreras said he had to put all of his weight on the suspect, who was wearing a bulky hooded jacket, to hold him down.

“He was fighting the whole time, you know, fighting the whole time. And we were fighting him to keep them down. We didn’t want to let him up and take off running because he had one gun. Maybe he had another one,” Mr Contreras told CNN.

Mr Filter told The Independent the next thing he recalled was being pulled to his feet.

“I thought ‘this was getting out of hand’. I asked my eldest son where my wife was, and we got out of there.”

It was only after they had escaped the melee that the family learned of the extent of the tragedy, which left a mother of two dead and at least 22 people injured, including nine children.

Paul Contreras knocked a suspected gunman’s firearm out of his grasp and restrained him until police arrived (KETV7)

The two men, who had never met prior to Wednesday, are being credited with preventing an even greater tragedy.

The person that they apprehended is one of three suspects arrested in connection with the shooting, which Kansas City Police say stemmed from a dispute between several people in the crowd. One of the suspects was released without charge on Thursday,

“A lot of people got hurt, and we consider ourselves very blessed that we aren’t dealing with the same problem,” Mr Filter told The Independent.

Casey Filter told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo in an interview that the gun had suddenly appeared at her feet, and she made a split second decision to intervene.

“We just did what we needed to do in that moment. I don’t think we could have just walked away, being right there like that,” Ms Filter said.

Mr Filter, who owns two asphalt businesses in the Wichita area, said he had barely slept after the shooting. His entire family were huge fans of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. His youngest son Levi is a defensive line player.

“I’m sure they haven’t thought about how close we came to having a really bad day,” he said.

Of the 22 injured, nine children suffered gunshot wounds and are being treated in area hospitals. The sole fatality from the shooting has been identified as local DJ and mother-of-two, Lisa Lopez-Galvan.

At a press conference on Thursday, Kansas City Police Department Chief Stacey Graves said the shooting was not terrorism related.

“We are working to determine the involvement of others. And it should be noted we have recovered several firearms. This incident is still a very active investigation,” Ms Graves said at a news conference.

President Joe Biden said that the tragedy should motivate Congress to “finally act” to enact stricter gun control measures to prevent shootings from occurring in the future.