First Responders share experience during Chiefs rally shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - We’re getting a first-hand from the heroes at the shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally. Paramedics from all over the metro dropped everything and didn’t hesitate to help others, including those with Johnson County’s MED-ACT.

As police officers ran toward the gunfire Wednesday afternoon, paramedics and firefighters waited for that all-clear so they could get to work, helping those who had been shot.

Johnson County MED-ACT paramedics were assisting the Kansas City Fire Department as with several other metro-area EMS providers.

“We thought we going to be taking care of minor parade-related injuries,” said MED-ACT Captain Joe Folsom. Those injuries range from simple falls, people overheating and public intoxication.

As the parade wrapped up, Captain Folsom and his partner, Jessica Kolich, were finishing up a transport to KU Medical Center when they heard the call on their radio. “All units, shelter in place, shooter on the west side of Union Station.”

“My heart sank,” Kolich said as the dispatcher made the announcement. MED-ACT Lieutenant Devin Connelly was returning to the rally after he and his partner finished a transport to KU, “I my partner and I, we looked at each other and we just had a moment when we’re like, ‘Is this actually happening?’,” he said.

As the MED-ACT crews began to arrive back at Union Station, they could see it was really happening.

“We knew there were multiple victims, we could see multiple victims,” Capt. Folsom recalled.

As Lt. Connelly and his partner got closer to the scene, he said, “We knew there has been a shooter, they cleared us into the scene, and we were approaching we were just trying to figure out where our patients were going to be.”

As a sea of fans ran away from the scene, these first responders ran toward it to save lives because that’s what they do.

“We had a job to do, that was most of it. There was anxiety, clearly, I mean we are really well trained and that just kind of takes over and you do what you were there to do,” Lt. Connelly says.

After it was all over, they now reflect on what they experienced and are proud of what they do in their city.

“I was angry at first, ‘cause I don’t want people elsewhere to think this is what Kansas City is all about,” Capt. Folsom said.

Lt. Connelly was proud of his colleagues, “I was just proud of the guy in front of me and how well he was doing given all that was happening.”

“We do this because we love it,” Kolich said. He goes on to say that he does it because he loves Kansas City.

ALSO READ: Hundreds line up to buy donuts in of KC shooting victims

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.