A gun-wielding Kansas wife saved her coach husband from a vicious beating when she fired a warning shot to scare the attackers away, police told The Wichita Eagle.
Five or six men approached the 37-year-old youth football coach after he allegedly got into a dispute with one of their relatives at the Wichita Tigers' football practice at a south Wichita park Monday night.
One of the men displayed a gun underneath his shirt before the group began beating the coach, with at least one using a set of brass knuckles, Lt. James Espinoza told the newspaper.
The coach's wife, who saw the attack, pulled out a gun and fired one shot into the air. Moments later the coach was able to dash to his car to retrieve a second gun, which he aimed at several bystanders, Espinoza told The Wichita Eagle.
Police were called to the scene at Linwood Park but the assailants already fled by the time they arrived. The wife's gun was collected for evidence and the suspects remain at large. Both husband and wife have concealed-carry permits.
"It's upsetting to even hear a story like this," Espinoza said of the victim, whose name has not been released. "It just sets a terrible example of coaching and parenting."
Before the attack, a woman said to be a parent of a former player for the team was seen arguing with the victim over her son not being able to play. It is not clear why the son was removed from the team and police did not release the ages of the players.
Jeremy Burris, director of the Tigers football program, said the player was removed due to "a character issue." But his mother began yelling at the youth coach because she felt they "were the ones that made her kid not play," Burris told the newspaper.
The woman was asked to calm down and she eventually left. Police arrived and conducted interviews about the confrontation.
The youth coach was attacked not 20 minutes after police left.
He and his wife have since been relieved of any association with the team.
"You can't take weapons out around children," Burris told the newspaper.
