Jake Massey
UFC fighter Kevin Holland was on hand to take down a shooter in a US restaurant – his second heroic deed in months.
At around 11.30pm yesterday, March 14, 24-year-old gunman Jesus Edray Cardiel Samaniego entered Ra Sushi, in Houston, Texas, and fired a shot into the air, police said.
The 50 or so diners fled or hid under tables, but whatever the shooter had in mind didn't come to pass, as 29-year-old Holland and two other customers quickly subdued him.
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By the time officers got there, the shooter had already been apprehended, and nobody at the scene was injured – though Sgt. Ricardo Salas said lives may have been lost if it wasn't for their courageous intervention.
One of the men who helped Holland subdue the gunman, Patrick Robinson, told ABC 13: "We were eating and the next thing you know, a gunshot just popped off.
"So everything paused and then everybody started running to get down under a table.
"We got him down, apprehended him, got the gun away from him and the bag that he had."
Holland declined to speak to local media following the incident, but on his Instagram story he wrote: "I laugh a lot even when things aren't funny I smile when I should frown.
"Super blessed and thankful to see today. Kiss ya kids hug ya family and treat random people with care.
"You never know what a mfer might be going through."
Samaniego has been charged with deadly conduct and carrying a handgun in a motor vehicle.
The incident comes just five months after Holland helped to prevent a car theft.
He was driving to training with his coach in October when he saw a man being chased, with the man giving chase claiming the person fleeing had stolen his car.
The fighter subsequently chased down the suspect and restrained him, with his coach posting a video of him holding the man as police arrived at the scene.
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