A gunman who entered Pasadena Memorial High School over the weekend shot and wounded one person before being disarmed.
The suspect, 83-year-old Dennis Erwin Brandl, discharged a small-caliber weapon after entering the Houston, Texas-area high school on Saturday evening while a competition was being held involving students from numerous school districts, police said.
A percussion technical consultant for the band was identified as the victim of the shooting, according to the Angleton Independent School District. Police confirmed the individual was taken to a hospital, where he remained in stable condition.
The Pasadena Independent School District says the perpetrator was not affiliated with the competition. After firing the weapon, school district police and “several good Samaritans” helped subdue and apprehend the man, said the Pasadena ISD, per CBS.
“Within 60 seconds, a suspect was disarmed and they prevented further shooting by this suspect,” Pasadena Police Chief Jerry Wright said at a news conference.
The Pearland Independent School District mirrored the police chief’s description, saying some parents of the students “bravely intervened, successfully subduing the individual and detaining them until law enforcement arrived.”
Four fathers, in particular, were highlighted for their quick action. The individuals, all of whom have served in the armed forces or law enforcement and who are all a part of the Pearland Band Dadas, include 13-year Air Force veteran Abram Trevino, 14-year Army veteran Adam Curow, 4-year Marine Corps veteran Efrain ‘Polo’ Castillo, and Houston police sergeant Joe Sanchez.
“People were coming out screaming, saying, ‘Active shooter, active shooter,’ so me and Polo were with the same prop, dropped everything and ran through the lobby door,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said that when he arrived at the scene moments later, another man had already started apprehending the suspect.
“I grabbed his arms while Adam took the gun out, and once the gun was removed from his hand, we had no handcuffs, so I took off my belt, made handcuffs, got his right arm secured, got his left arm secured,” Sanchez said.
While the motive is unclear, the suspect reportedly said he thought someone was pursuing him and was scared for his and his wife’s life.
“When the suspect was on the ground, he kept saying, ‘Someone’s trying to shoot me, someone’s trying to shoot me,’ and we would look around or scan the area to see if maybe there was an additional or potential second person that may be the person he’s referencing, but there was nobody. It was all spectators, students, and parents,” Curow said.