A professional mixed martial arts fighter bragged in his Instagram story Monday night that he was able to subdue a gunman at a sushi restaurant – while apparently drunk – one year after he stopped a car thief.
Kevin Holland, 29, a UFC welterweight, was at Ra Sushi in the Highland Village of Houston, Texas at around 11.30pm Monday night when a 24-year-old entered the restaurant and fired a shot into the air.
Many of the nearly 50 customers in the restaurant at the time ducked for cover in the aftermath, ABC 13 reports – but not Holland.
He and two of his friends, who were eating dinner at the time, quickly sprung into action to help take down the shooter before the cops even arrived on the scene.
In the aftermath, Holland posted a video of the cops on the scene, saying there was a ‘shoot out,’ and writing ‘I’m drunk and fighting, kung-fu fighting.’
He added in a second video that the suspect was OK as he was taken into custody.
Kevin Holland, 29, a UFC welterweight, bragged on his Instagram Story that he was able to take down a gunman while apparently drunk on Monday night
In a second video, he added that the suspect is OK as he was taken into police custody
Holland said he made use of his kung-fu skills to help take down the shooter
One of his friends, Patrick Robinson, spoke about the action at ABC 13.
‘We were eating and the next thing you know, a gunshot just popped off,’ the Dallas native said. ‘So everything paused and then everybody started running to get down under a table.’
But, he told Click2Houston, ‘We just quickly hopped on it, got to the shooter, got him down.
‘He had a backpack on him,’ Robinson added. ‘We got the backpack away from him because we didn’t know what was in the backpack.
‘And pretty much everything went well from there.’
By the time the cops arrived on the scene, they said, Jesus Edrai Cardiel Samaniego, 24, was already subdued and had his weapon taken away.
In the aftermath, Holland posted a video of the police on the scene while standing next to Robinson, saying there was a ‘shoot out,’ and writing ‘I’m drunk and fighting, kung-fu fighting.’
He added in a second video that the suspect was OK.
Samaniego is now facing possession of a stolen gun and discharge of a firearm charges.
Police say he also had narcotics on him at the time of the arrest.
His friend, Patrick Robinson, told ABC 13 how they sprung into action immediately after the gunman fired a shot into the air
The shooting occurred at Ra Sushi in Houston, Texas at around 11.30pm when Holland and his friends were eating dinner
Jesus Edray Cardiel Samaniego, 24, is now facing possession of a stolen gun and discharge of a firearm charges
Police said he had narcotics on him at the time of his arrest Monday night
But this was not the first time Holland displayed his real-life heroics.
Last year, when he was on his way home to Texas from a UFC fight in Las Vegas, he helped apprehend a car thief.
He told Bleacher Report he was on his way home in October when he noticed a car speeding out of a parking lot.
Just a few moments later, he said, a man came up running behind him yelling ‘Hey, he stole my car.’
Holland then decided to chase after the runaway car, and when he pulled up next to it, the driver sped away.
He then continued to follow the car through the area near his home, according to Bleacher Report.
At one point during the chase, the driver rammed into a tree – but by the time Holland tried to approach him, the driver reversed and tried to drive towards him instead.
He immediately hopped back into his car and said he noticed the alleged victim had now gotten into a truck and was also pursuing the thief.
Eventually, the driver crashed into a trailer and tried to escape on foot as Holland chased him down.
When he finally caught up to the thief, he said, he put his Brazilian jiu jitsu skills to use and held the suspect in place in Saginaw, Texas until the police arrived on the scene.
Last year, Holland managed to hold down a car thief until the cops could arrive on the scene
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