PASADENA, Texas — A group of dads who were helping with a band competition at Pasadena Memorial High School Saturday night worked together to stop a suspect who police say shot and injured a man.
The four men, 13-year Air Force veteran Abram Trevino, 14-year Army veteran Adam Curow, 4-year Marine Corps veteran Efrain ‘Polo’ Castillo and long-time Houston police sergeant Joe Sanchez, quickly jumped into action.
They are part of what is known as the Pearland Band Dads, which means they help with band-related activities for Pearland High School. Pearland High School students were among those who were competing Saturday at Pasadena Memorial High School.
The dads said they were moving equipment around when they noticed a lot of commotion.
“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 another man had already started to subdue the suspect, but then he and the other three Pearland Band Dads got involved.
“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.
Cell phone video obtained by KHOU 11 News shows the moments after the suspect was taken down. Curow also shared photos with KHOU 11 News, showing the Pearland Band Dads surrounding the gunman.
“I grabbed his wrist and was tackling to get the handgun free. I finally got it free,” Curow said. “Then, I went ahead and cleared the pistol and kept it in my hand. I put the pistol behind my back. That way it was secured, and no one has to grab it or utilize it.”
The Pasadena Police Department identified the suspect as 83-year-old Dennis Erwin Brandl, Jr. Police said Brandl, Jr. told officers that he thought he was being chased by someone and feared he and his wife were going to be killed. He left his home in Spring and ended up in Pasadena, where he then went into the school.
Curow said he heard something similar directly from Brandl, Jr. on the night of the shooting.
“When the suspect was on the ground, he kept saying that, “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.
According to the dads, the takedown of the suspect happened relatively quickly.
“It felt like an eternity, but I think it was in a matter of a minute or so, from start to finish,” Trevino said.
Trevino added that each of the Pearland Band Dads utilized their background in the military or law enforcement to do what they needed to do to secure the school and save all the students and families nearby.
“I think anybody with our collective backgrounds would do that, kind of nature, it’s kind of a secondhand trait that we have,” Trevino said.
“We kind of knew what we were doing, and we did it,” Currow said.
The Pearland High School community is grateful that the dads acted so swiftly. That includes Pearland High School’s Director of Percussion Clay Jasper. Jasper was at Pasadena Memorial High School Saturday and witnessed the dads jump into action.
“It was incredible but also not unexpected, because, I say this all the time to everybody, but the Pearland community is built different, and all these band parents are just different, and they’re incredible. They’re incredible role models for their children, and myself. I’m a father of two young daughters, and I look to these guys now as role models for myself, so it was not unexpected to see them jump in like that and just do what needs to be done, because that’s what they do in this community, and for the band program and for the school as a whole,” Jasper said.
Pearland Independent School District Superintendent Larry Berger commended each of the dads for stepping up to keep the community safe.
“It was an active shooter event at an event our kids were at, but it was the fact that our parents stepped in a moment of crisis and were heroes, selflessly acting to take the guy down, and none of our kids were hurt,” Berger said.
Pasadena police said a man in his 20s was shot, but he is expected to be okay.
Ashley Yen, the Director of Color Guard for Kempner High School, was also at the band competition on Saturday. She said after running for her life and making sure her students were safe, she tried to help the man who got hit.
“I saw him behind the dumpster, laying down. He was wearing a black shirt and khaki pants, and I didn’t see the blood at first, so I didn’t know what was going on. But, I jumped down next to him, and then someone said he was shot, so I started holding pressure where the t-shirt was and I was holding his hand and I was talking to him, making sure he was okay,” Yen said.
Kempner High School Percussion Director Cameron Robillard said it was heartbreaking to see the fear his students and staff had to endure during the shooting.
“Definitely not something I thought I would have to experience as a percussion director, that music kids would have to deal with at a contest,” Robillard said. “I think it’s ridiculous that we have to be concerned about our safety at a band event.”
But he added that he is grateful to the dads who stepped in to handle the situation, hailing them as heroes.
“I’m obviously extremely thankful to the parents who took down the shooter,” Robillard said.
According to Pasadena police, Brandl, Jr. is awaiting transfer to the Harris County Jail. Police also said the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has accepted charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Brandl, Jr. No bond has been given.