"She kicked him back like that. He dropped her. He started running that way, and I started running this way, and I was running to her. And I grabbed her arm to help her," said 9-year-old Luke Larson.
That was Luke Larson, a 9-year-old boy describing the moment one of his classmates was being grabbed by a stranger who came out of a wooded area.
Luke pointed out the spot for our partners at KSHB, saying, "Yeah, he came out from right there."
As he explained to KCTV: "I heard her scream and yell. I dropped my bike and ran all the way down to where that gate is."
Luke has been credited with saving his classmate because of his courage to run toward the man, who has been described as "large" and "tall."
The sidewalk where the incident occurred is a common route for kids to walk to school, which has other parents in the area feeling a bit uneasy.
"It's so interesting to know the exact walk and to have this happen today because I might've sent them on their own after awhile," a local mother said.
"Lately there's just so much crime going on everywhere that I hesitate to let them go without an adult," a grandmother said.
The local police captain told WDAF Luke and his friend did the right thing by being loud.
"We tell kids that, you know, if you're approached by a stranger or grabbed, to scream, yell, get attention. And that's exactly what they both did, and I think that's why we have the outcome that we have," said Gladstone Police Capt. Jeff Self.
Although Luke is proud of his actions that day, he said he doesn't want to be called a hero.There's been no sign of the man since the incident, but police are stepping up patrols in the area.
