'I pinned the rifle to his chest': Good Samaritans help stop potential shooter in Louisville
A potential shooter was stopped in his tracks by good Samaritans.
"He just kind of kept walking and walks past Josh and then Josh was able to come up behind him and hold him right there," Madison Gagemertz said.
He and Josh Williamson never knew each other before Saturday. That all quickly changed after police said Carmon Tussey got into a fight near O'Sheas, an Irish pub in Louisville.
"There was like an altercation and I kind of was right here and felt obligated to kind of stop it," Gagemertz said.
Investigators said the 25-year-old left and came back. A still capture from a camera across the street shows Tussey carrying what police say is an automatic AR pistol with a fully loaded magazine. Court documents said he ran toward the crowd outside.
"Next thing I know, I see him coming around with a rifle, so I knew action needed to be taken," Williamson told sister station WLKY.
Williamson said his military instincts quickly took over.
"I immediately jumped into action and got him apprehended and I made sure I pinned the rifle to his chest so he couldn't raise it up and I swung him around so my buddies could see he had a weapon because they didn't know," Williamson said.
Gagemertz and a few others soon followed.
"The second that someone hopped on him, the rest of us kind of fell in line – it was like an involuntary movement, we kind of just did it," he said.
Tussey was pinned to the ground by Williamson and others, both said they refused to let him move an inch with the weapon still in his hand. Louisville police officers arrived within minutes.
As he was being taken into custody, investigators said Tussey told officers, "he should have just shot."
"There were good people here and I wanted to keep the area safe by all means," Williamson said.
Days later, the two said they've been called heroes, but it's a title they said they would rather not have.
"We were the right people at the right place at the right time," Gagemertz said.
"If I can prevent a mass shooting, I would do it 100 times over," Williamson said.
While this wasn't the way Williamson expected to celebrate his birthday, it was brought in unexpectedly with a new friend.
"We were out here having a good time and one thing lead to the next. It's the one I'll never forget, that's for sure," Williamson said.
Tussey is behind bars facing several charges including menacing and terroristic threatening. He has a $150,000 cash bond. ATF is currently investigating.