CREVE COEUR, Mo. — What was supposed to be a fun night at the movies turned into a traumatic experience for many families last week.
A St. Ann man and his two sons were enjoying a new kid's movie, Inside Out 2, when a child took out a gel-pellet gun and opened fire on June 29. The dad sprung into action after being struck, ran after the suspect, and is now being praised for helping police lead to his arrest.
Wallace Bell exclusively talked with 5 On Your Side about how he helped police arrest the AMC Creve Couer Theater shooter.
"There was about ten minutes left of the movie, and some commotion started going on. I looked over and saw somebody with a mask on," said Bell.
Bell was enjoying movie night with his 12-year-old and six-year-old sons when he noticed a young boy standing up at the front of the theater with a fake gun.
"No sooner than three seconds of him having my attention, I'm getting shot. I got shot about five times. My 12-year-old got shot, and then my six-year-old started screaming, and that's when he got shot in the face. I immediately knew it was a pellet gun because I got shot with it," the father said.
Bell says the people behind him could only see a boy in a mask, not knowing if the gun was real or not.
"I just start climbing over people to get to the gunman to make him stop. Everybody was balled up and pinned down because he was shooting. I think I was still getting hit as I climbed over people," said Bell.
That's when Bell says he chased the shooter out of the theater.
"His brother tried to stop me. He's like, 'Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, that is my brother.' I was like, yeah, 'well, he shot my kid in the face.' I get to the hallway, I look left, I look right. I can't find him. Everybody's chasing around from theater to theater to try to see if he's still in there," he said.
Five minutes pass by, and suddenly, he spots the boy and his brother.
"I'm chasing them, chasing them, and they crossed the highway. There were sirens going off; they could see the police. And they ran directly into the direction of the police just to get away from the crazy man that was chasing them," Bell said.
Police arrested the child in a nearby parking lot and took him to St. Louis County Family Court for processing. He was released to his parents, police said on Monday.
"It took about two days for the mark to go away on my youngest son's face. He was terrified. He said he didn't want to go to the movie theater anymore. He was asking questions like, 'If we go to the zoo, will this happen? If we go to the park? Will he be there?'"
Bell says the theater manager handed out free vouchers to patrons. He feels like they should've done more to protect them.
"All of this happened because of a lack of security and guidance. Even after the situation, there wasn't a guard for me to talk to. There wasn't a guard searching bags. If you were looking for candy, you would have found a mask and a Nerf gun. We've had shootings and movie theaters before, so they should be properly secured, right? There was no security in place. It was just a bad situation. We had pregnant women in there," said Bell.
Creve Coeur police are still talking to witnesses and victims a week later.
At least 20 people have filed complaints about the incident, and detectives are still asking for more to come forward. With each complaint, the child could face a new charge, including assault, disturbing the peace, or making a terrorist threat.
Bell says Creve Coeur police thanked him for helping them catch the suspect.
The Creve Coeur Police Department asks anyone in the theater or struck by the gel beads to call 314-737-4600.
5 On Your Side reached out to AMC theatres to get the movie chain's reaction but have not yet heard back.