Heroic dads speak out after tackling suspected Kansas Chiefs parade shooter and feeding him a series of punches

Kansas City Chiefs fans took to the streets of their hometown Wednesday to celebrate their team's Super Bowl victory. The merriment and festivities were cut short when at least one armed thug opened fire west of Union Station, killing a mother of two and wounding 21 others — including nine children.

The atrocity could very well have claimed more victims were it not for the prompt and reflexive bravery of a pair of dads who ran down the alleged gunman and tested his tolerance for punches.

Trey Filter and Paul Contreras, previously unknown to one another, both stressed that inaction was never an option: "It was just: just do it."

The shooting

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department indicated that the shooting started around 2 p.m. Wednesday, west of Union Station, where a stage was set up for speeches made by team players.

Blaze News previously reported that footage of the incident shared online shows panicked fans fleeing the sound of gunshots.

Twenty-two people were struck by bullets. Police noted that eight of the victims were left with "immediately life-threatening" wounds, seven with "life-threatening" gunshot wounds, and six with minor injuries.

A spokeswoman for Children's Mercy Kansas City told KSHB-TV that 11 children had been taken to the hospital with injuries, nine of whom had gunshot wounds.

Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 44-year-old radio disc jockey and a mother of two, was fatally struck in the abdomen.

Lopez-Galvan's radio station, KKFI 90.1 FM, said in a statement, "It is with sincere sadness and an extremely heavy and broken heart that we let our community know that KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan, host of Taste of Tejano, lost her life today in the shooting at the KC Chiefs' rally. Our hearts and prayers are with her family."

The Kansas City Star reported that the local mother of two may actually have been the second fatality in the mass shooting; she died after the 3:30 p.m. Wednesday press conference wherein police noted that one person had already died.

Three suspects were taken into custody, and at least one gun was recovered from the scene. According to the KCMPD's initial report, police had detained two armed suspects. FBI Kansas City said Wednesday evening the shooting "may have involved multiple actors."

"We do not have a motive, but we are asking those who may potentially have any kind of information, a witness or video, to contact police," KCMPD Chief Stavey Graves said Wednesday.

Off-season tackles

Trey Filter was with his wife and two sons when gunshots rang out and the multitudes of people surrounding them began to duck for cover. Then someone yelled, "Get him!" he told the New York Post.

"My brain tells me, 'That must be him,'" recalled Filter. "I literally remember when I was tackling him, 'I sure hope this is who they were yelling at me to get.' Because I just went, 'Boom!' ... I really don't recall seeing him coming."

Although Filter managed to leap onto the alleged shooter and bring him to the ground, the suspected gunman managed to wiggle free.

That's when another dad with a zero-tolerance policy for evil stepped in to help.

KETV-TV reported that Paul Contreras of Bellevue, Nebraska, was with his three daughters when they heard what they figured to be fireworks. However, when it became clear that the crackling sound was gunfire and that the alleged shooter was on the loose, his parental instincts went into high gear.

Contreras reportedly spotted another man chasing down a suspect and yelling for someone to assist.

"I didn't think about it," Contreras told KETV. "It's just a reaction. I didn't hesitate. It was just: just do it."

"So I went to go tackle him and another gentleman did the same thing," continued Contreras. "And as I'm tackling him, I see his weapon either fall out of his hand or out of his sleeve, 'cause he was wearing a long jacket."

Trey Filter's wife, Casey, lunged for the weapon after it hit the ground and attempted to secure it, reported the Post. Filter suggested the weapon was an AK-47 rifle, though police have not confirmed the make and model.

"So when I see that hit the ground, I'm like, 'Oh, you know. We gotta take this guy down,'" added Contreras.

The Nebraska dad said that he and the other "Good Samaritan" held the suspect down for what "seemed like forever, but it probably ... was like 30 seconds" until police arrived.

When Filter saw Contreras wrestling with the suspected gunman in the dirt, he leaped back into action and began feeding him punches.

"I don't know if I knocked him out when I tackled him or what, but I had him squeezed so hard he might have been passed out all the time for all I know. I just started racking him in his ribs," Filter told the Post. "I was just yelling, 'F your gun!' and I was just hitting him in his ribs. It was great. You know, America stuff."

While Filter stuffed the suspect's breadbasket with knuckle sandwiches, Contreras reportedly went to work on the alleged gunman's face.

"The whole time he's fighting to get up and run away," said Contreras. "We're fighting each other, you know. We're fighting to keep him down and he's fighting to get up."

After police made the arrest and nearby witnesses applauded the dads' efforts, Filter told his boys, "Get your mother, we're getting the f*** out of here."

CNN indicated that it remains unclear whether the man subdued by Contreras and Filter was among the three ultimately reported detained.

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