Soldier uses his car to mow down active shooter on bridge, hailed as hero for likely saving lives

An active duty soldier at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, used his car to mow down a shooter on a bridge and is being called a hero for likely saving multiple lives, police told WDAF-TV.

What are the details?

Officers were called to the Centennial Bridge at 11 a.m. Wednesday for a report of shots fired that originally was thought to be a case of road rage, Leavenworth Police Chief Patrick Kitchens told the station.

The bridge spans the Missouri River and connects Leavenworth with Platte County, Missouri.

Arriving officers found one man with a gunshot wound and another man trapped under a car, WDAF said, adding that emergency crews took both to a hospital with serious injuries.

But as officers spoke to witnesses, they learned the incident wasn't road rage related but involved a shooter "with multiple weapons on the bridge firing at cars with no particular association," Kitchens told the station.

The shooter — who was firing at passing vehicles — had a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle, KMBC-TV reported.

And the soldier put a stop to it.

"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," Kitchens added to WDAF.

Anything else?

At least seven bullets penetrated the window of a Ford Taurus, and two other cars were hit as well, KMBC said, adding that the wounded man is a different active duty soldier at Fort Leavenworth and was in one of those vehicles.

The shooter is a Platte County resident, WDAF said.

The station added that a man who lives close to the scene said he heard between 10 and 13 shots.

April Steinke of Nextcare Urgent Care told KMBC she and a patient "heard some sirens, and I was like, 'Wow. That's awful close.'"

Steinke added to the station she was impressed by the soldier's quick thinking: "That's a hero to me."

Investigators told KMBC they aren't sure of the shooter's motive but are looking into his history.

Authorities added to the station that the shooter and the wounded soldier are stable.