Three people were taken into custody after a shooting at a parade and rally on February 14, 2024, celebrating the recent Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win. One person has died and more than 20 people were injured.
Shortly after the shooting was reported, videos began circulating online, some of which showed bystanders tackling an alleged shooter in attempt to protect other attendees at the celebration. KMBC reported that one of those bystanders was Paul Contreras. Trey Filter and his wife, Casey, also intervened.
Paul told KETV that he was at the event with his three daughters and they heard a sound that they assumed was fireworks, but it turned out to be gunshots. When he saw another man chasing someone and asking for help, he explained to the outlet, he "didn't hesitate."
Paul and another man tackled one of the suspected shooters and held him down until police intervened. "The whole time he's fighting to get up and run away," he told KETV. "We're fighting each other, you know. We're fighting to keep him down and he's fighting to get up."
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Paul's daughter added that what was supposed to be a special, memorable day for their family turned into a tragic one.
"We went for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you know, and to leave with, you know, another once-in-a-lifetime experience but not a good one," Paul's daughter Alyssa told KETV.
Trey and Casey Filter say that now that they've returned home, they're still processing what happened. Trey tackled a suspected shooter after he heard someone shout "get him!" He told the New York Post that after he tackled the man, he thought, "I sure hope this is who they were yelling at me to get."
Trey and Casey's two sons also thought they heard gunshots at the celebration, but Trey thought the sound came from fireworks. He explained to the New York Post that the event felt safe because "there was a military presence on top of the building above us with a .50-caliber machine gun."
While Trey was holding the suspected shooter down with the help of the other bystander, he heard people yelling about how the suspected shooter had a gun. At the time, Trey didn't realize that his wife, Casey, had already grabbed the gun.
Casey told Good Morning America that while in the situation, she wasn't thinking about anything else other than getting the gun and keeping people safe.
When she saw the gun, she first thought it could be a toy, she said.
Once she picked the gun up, she discovered it was heavy and definitely real. All she could think about was the safety of people at the event, including her husband and kids, she told Good Morning America.
“I was just wanting everyone to be safe. That was my main concern," she told Good Morning America.
