Police has credited a quick and brave decision from a Fort Leavenworth soldier to have saved many lives when the soldier decided to ram into a gunman who suddenly started firing on a busy bridge.
Centennial Bridge connects Kansas and Missouri, and is a very busy interstate border. Police reports that a shooter, equipped with two weapons, suddenly got off his car and started firing his weapons indiscriminately at the vehicles passing by.
Two motorists has been reported to have sustained injuries because of the shooting. Seeing this situation unfold in front of his eyes, the soldier decided to drive his car straight into the gunman to stop what could very easily have deprecated into a shooting spree.
Local police chief Patrick Kitchens admitted to the fact that it was an extremely dangerous situation, but fortunately was put under control very quickly because of the soldier’s decision which “saved countless lives” to borrow his words.
The soldier has later been identified as Master Sergeant David Royer. MSG Royer says despite media reports that hailed him as a hero, he said he didn’t deserve all the praise by saying many people would have made the same decision it they were in his position.
MSG Royer explained that when he saw the gunman pull his weapon out, he intuitively understood that people’s lives were in danger. He told local news media how all his training allowed him to stay calm and make a decision that he deemed to be the most appropriate in that situation.
MSG Royer said that after he rammed into the shooter with his truck, he couldn’t identify the shooter’s location.point 236 |
Thus he got off his truck to confirm that the situation was under control.point 61 | After securing one of the semi-automatic rifles that the gunman was using, MSG Royer looked under his truck where the shooter was injured and stuck in position.point 195 | 1
Police chief Kitchens said that the shooter was a resident from Missouri, although he has not been identified as of yet. He went on to say that the crime did not seem to have a set target; rather it was an attack on random people who just happened to be on the bridge at that moment.
We thank MSG Royer for his service. Join us in thanking him in the comments, and be sure to follow us on Facebook for more news like this one.
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