Photo: Getty Images
Kansas City Chiefs lineman Trey Smith detailed the moment when he helped a "panicked" child during the Super Bowl parade shooting, per People.
On Wednesday (February 14), the shooting broke out shortly after the Chiefs left the stage.
Smith recalled evacuating to Union Station with his teammates and bystanders on Thursday's (February 15) episode of Good Morning America.
"I just remember the security guards ushering us through the doors quickly, saying, 'Come on, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up,' " Smith said. "They said, 'This is not a joke. It's a life and death situation.' "
Smith and others, including children, took cover in a closet.
"Right before I run in there, there's a little kid in front of me so I just grabbed him and yanked him up and said, 'You're hopping in here with me, buddy,' " the lineman said. "I don't know how many people were in the closet, maybe 20-plus."
"One of my teammates, my long snapper James Winchester, was very instrumental in helping keep people calm," he added.
Once Smith and Winchester were able to leave the closet, they headed to the team's buses, which were filled with fans who had evacuated the scene of the shooting.
"This little boy was with his father. He was a little hysterical. He just panicked. He was scared. He doesn't know what's going on," Smith said.
Smith said he used the WWE championship belt that he held throughout the parade route to comfort the child.
"I had the WWE belt the entire parade and I was thinking, what can I do to help him out?” Smith said. “I just handed him the belt and said, 'Hey buddy, you're the champion. No one is gonna hurt you. No one's gonna hurt you, man. We got your back.'"
“He was looking out the window. He was seeing people reacting, trying to get out of the situation. I'm like, 'Here you go, buddy, this is yours. No one is gonna hurt you. You're here with us. You're going to be A-OK. You're going to be alright,'" he added.
The shooting left one dead and more than 20 people injured.
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