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One active-duty soldier in Kansas saved “countless lives” this week when he drove his truck into an active shooter, according to Fox News.
Master Sgt. David Royer was stuck in traffic on the Centennial Bridge near Forth Leavenworth, and on a phone call with his fiancee on May 27.
Just ahead of him, he saw a man pull out a rifle and begin shooting, FOX 4 of Kansas City reported.
“There was an active-duty soldier assigned to Ft. Leavenworth waiting in traffic behind the event, saw the event unfold, determined it was an active shooter and intervened by striking the shooter with his vehicle, causing him to be critically injured, ending the encounter with the active shooter and likely saving countless lives,” Leavenworth Police Chief Patrick Kitchens told FOX 4.
The soldier's fiance was talking to him on the phone when she says she heard eight or nine gunshots through the phone's speaker. https://t.co/laEEyMZaOs
— FOX4 News (@fox4kc) May 28, 2020
Kitchens also noted that the shooter had multiple weapons and was firing at random from the bridge.
Both the shooter and a victim he shot, another Forth Leavenworth soldier, were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Royer said that it was the only wat he could think of to safely top the shooting.
“I feel as if most people in my situation would have done the same thing,” he said, according to The Leavenworth Times.
The soldier’s fiancee, Haley Siela, who was on the phone with him at the time, said, “I heard eight or nine gunshots.”
“I was so scared, because I didn’t know how this was going to turn out.”
Kitchens, in a news conference, said although Royer won’t call himself a hero, “I will.”
“Let’s be absolutely crystal clear, his actions were heroic,” he said. “His actions were extraordinary and he should be commended for that.”
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Kitchens said the shooter, 37, had multiple weapons and was firing indiscriminately from the bridge.
Royer said his 15 years in the Army likely prepared him for the incident. He has been trained in active shooter situations.
