SASKATOON -- Jesse Heit estimates around 100 people were inside Hudson's for a karaoke night on Tuesday when a man walked into the bar and fired a gun into the ceiling.
Heit was at the downtown bar attending a friend's stag party. In an interview with CTV News, he said people at the bar didn't think much of the first gunshot, figuring it was a champagne cork being popped or fireworks.
Then the gunman fired a second shot.
Heit noticed his friend in a struggle with another man, throwing him into the women's washroom near the front doors of the bar.
Heit said he assumed his friend was in a bar fight and jumped in to help, but then he realized the man his friend was struggling with had a gun.
"I was trying to get the gun away, then another man came in but he wasn't a bouncer. That's when the gun popped out of his hands and I just was in shock. I walked out and gave it to the bartender and told him to call 911."
A 25-year-old man is facing several weapons charges in connection to the incident. A rifle was found at the scene, according to police. No one was injured.
The gun appeared to be a rifle more than two feet long, Heit said.
The man who fired it was wearing a hoodie, didn't say anything and struggled to keep control of his gun, Heit said.
The man, who Heit estimates was under six feet tall, was restrained by four patrons, Heit said.
Heit said his friend, Josh Neudorf, deserves all the credit for approaching the man with full knowledge that he had a weapon.
"It was a quick decision to move the barrel out of the way or step back but if I would’ve stepped back I don't know what wouldn't happened if I did, so it was one quick thought," Neudorf told CTV News.
Police say they can't condone civilians jumping in to help, but Insp. Cam McBride said things could have ended differently had Heit and Neudorf not done so.
"Only speculation knows what could've happened if they didn't so certainly from the perspective of the SPS, their actions were commendable and their actions may have prevented something seriously worse."
