Police are praising an active-duty soldier from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for likely saving “countless lives” after he neutralized a would-be mass shooter on Wednesday.
Master Sgt. David Royer, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Army, told reporters that he was driving home from an appointment when he witnessed a man with a semi-automatic rifle on the Centennial Bridge, which connects Kansas and Missouri.
Speaking to his fiancé on Bluetooth just before the encounter, Royer told her to call 911 to report an active shooter on the bridge before telling her he “had to go.”
The suspect, a 37-year-old resident of Platte County, Missouri, had driven to the bridge around 11 a.m., where he parked his car and began to shoot at cars randomly.
Police received a call for multiple shots fired and initially responded to what they thought was a road rage incident.
“I was shocked that was happening, but the adrenaline took over and with the military training I received I took appropriate action,” Royer recounted.
After making sure the suspect no longer posed a threat, Royer performed first aid on the man, who was lodged under his truck. When he went over to the suspect’s car to turn off the engine, Royer found a handgun on the seat.
After the incident, Royer told reporters what he learned from the incident: “Not to be afraid. Everything would turn out OK. There’s people all around the world that would do things like that. I believe there is more good out there than there is bad.”
He shared how his parents and brother, who is a military veteran, taught him to be courageous and do what is right from an early age.
“It kinda runs in our blood to stand up and do what’s right and put ourselves in front of harms’ way if we need to,” he shared.
Meanwhile, some are hailing Royer as a hero. Nextcare Urgent Care worker April Steinke was more than impressed by the soldier’s quick action.
“Me and another patient just heard some sirens and I was like, ‘Wow. That’s awful close,’” she shared. ”That’s a hero to me.”
In the aftermath, police Chief Patrick Kitchens also credited Royer for what he had done.
“There was an active-duty soldier assigned to Fort Leavenworth waiting in traffic behind the event who saw the event unfold and determined it was an active shooter,” said Kitchens. ”The soldier 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.”
The day after the incident, Royer reached out to people on social media, asking them to pray for the victim to make a full recovery. “Anytime an incident like this happens I hope it makes you all hug your loved ones a little tighter,” he added.
