A hero Navy veteran credits his military training for helping him in tackling suspects during the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting -- one of whom was described as "basically missing his jaw" after being shot. Tony Janssens, a Chiefs fan, shared with Fox News Digital that some initially mistook the alarming sound of gunfire for fireworks during the celebratory event.
"It didn't sound like fireworks to me," the Navy veteran recalled. "And then I heard another couple of rounds go off, and then that's when I dropped to the ground again," he added. He was dismayed that many in the crowd were trying to record the drama with their phones.
Showing True Courage
"I looked over to my right where the shots were coming from, and I see a guy lying on the ground with a couple of bullet holes at his side, and he's already kind of lying down — I kind of understand the severity of the situation," Janssens said.
Janssens said that she was surprised to see several revers trying to record the shooting instead of rushing to safety.
"Like, this is real life. You need to get out of here. Like, don't just sit here and try to record or anything. So I'm telling people to, 'Leave! Leave! Leave!,'" he said.
Janssens was trying to make a hasty retreat but accidentally collided with the three suspects, one of whom had suffered a severe facial injury.
"He's basically missing his jaw, and he's freaking out," Janssens said of the suspect, who was wearing a backpack.
"He doesn't know what to do. And then his buddies are kind of scrambling. They're all like, don't know if they should keep running or help his buddy, since he's bleeding now," he added.
Uncertain whether the injured person was a victim or one of the shooters, Janssens relied on his military training and maintained vigilant observation of the wounded man.
"I saw him hand over a bag to the other two individuals that he was with. And I see them kind of run — trying to take off and try to escape. And they're running towards these two semi-trucks, and they get in between these two semi-trucks," he said.
Chase, Tackle and Arrest
Janssens said he saw that one of them was wearing a Carhart jacket, which raised suspicion given the comfortable 65-degree weather. Acting on his instincts, he promptly informed a state trooper, one among the many law enforcement officers present at the unfortunate event, about the group.
"'I think these guys might be part of it. They just kind of look fishy,'" Janssens said he told the cop.
"So as we're walking up to him, I'm leading. I'm leading him to the guys. They notice that we're walking up to him, and they start backpedaling a little bit. He looks like he's kind of concealing something in his jacket," he said.
As the men started to sprint away, Janssens and the law enforcement officer chased them. "I'm jumping barricades, we're running down the street, and I'm trying to clear people out the way. I'm yelling as I'm chasing after him, 'Get this guy! Get this guy!'" he said.
The veteran said that he called out to several other people, asking them to help in tackling one of the suspects.
"Luckily, these four other guys heard me. And they turn around and said they could hear me yelling to tackle this guy. And I saw him, and luckily they just stepped up and helped tackle him," he told Fox News Digital.
"As they were tackling him, I think I saw another guy was running away as well. So I kept chasing that guy and then it was just a dead pursuit. So I hurried back and helped these guys try to sustain the situation until cops arrived," he added.
A mother and well-known disc jockey lost her life in the barrage of gunfire during the end of the parade and rally on Wednesday. Besides, 22 others, with more than half of them being children, sustained injuries.
As of Friday, two people remained in critical condition, and one was in serious condition. Fortunately, most of the injured children have been released from the hospital and were expected to recover.
Authorities announced on Friday that two unnamed juveniles have been charged in connection with the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl rally.
According to a news release from the Jackson County Family Court, the juveniles were charged on Thursday and are currently held in the county's Juvenile Detention Center on charges related to firearms and resisting arrest.
