TWIN FALLS, Idaho — A Dick’s Sporting Goods employee says he came face to face with the shooter during an active shooter incident and narrowly escaped after the suspect fired and missed him.
Braxton Stuebe said his shift started normally until he heard an unfamiliar sound.
“I kind of noticed like a ringing in my ear and I asked what it was and they said it was the alarm going off,” Stuebe said.
He said he initially dismissed it, as the alarm had gone off before. That changed when a group of people rushed into the store.
Watch to hear 17-year-old Brandon describe his confrontation with the suspect —
“A storm of people come in, like 5, 10 people come in and specifically this lady, she was yelling, there’s an active shooter, there’s an active shooter, running through the store, letting everybody know,” Stuebe said.
Stuebe helped move people toward a back exit
Stuebe said he began directing people toward the back of the store, where a locked door was the only way out. He said he located a manager and pushed through the crowd to get the door unlocked.
He and a coworker then ran toward a hotel under construction near the canyon. That is when Stuebe said he spotted a man near the visitor center.
“I saw the gun and I kind of just froze. I put my hands up and that’s when he pointed the gun directly at me,” Stuebe said.
‘I have a family. You don’t have to do this.’
Stuebe said he tried to stay calm and talk to the suspect.
“The only thing I was really thinking was, don’t try and make any sudden movements, don’t try and run. Just hopefully talk to him and hopefully he can change his mind,” Stuebe said.
“I said, I have a family. I said, you don’t have to do this. I’ll tell you whatever you want. I’ll do anything,” he said.
Stuebe said the suspect appeared to become emotional during the exchange.
“He started to like tear up a bit, it seemed like. And kind of just got like emotional, it seemed like. And he said to me, just get away from me, man. And a stuttering voice, like as if he was crying almost,” Stuebe said.
As Stuebe backed away, he said the suspect turned and fired in his direction.
“He turns back around and kind of has a firearm on his hip. As he’s walking backwards, he fires a shot towards me. Thankfully he had missed me. We decided to go to the sidewalk on Blue Lakes and we just started waving our hands trying to stop traffic after we went into Best Buy and called our parents,” Stuebe said.
Father rushed to scene after son’s call
Stuebe’s father, Chad Stuebe, said he raced across town after receiving the call.
“It’s not a situation you should be in as a parent. I just wanted to get there and get him home safe. There’s families in the area that aren’t getting to sit down with their kids or their loved ones,” Chad Stuebe said.
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