Networks Admit ‘Hero’ Good Guy With a Gun Ended Idaho Mass Shooting

Nicholas Fondacaro
August 3rd, 2026 2:15 PM

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The FN Five-seveN is about to explode in popularity. That’s the make and model of the pistol Jordan Salinas used to help end the mass shooting at an Idaho In-and-Out Burger over the weekend. His actions that Saturday afternoon were so undeniably heroic that even the liberal broadcast networks could not avoid calling him a “hero” and crediting him with saving an unknowable number of lives. One even shared some badass quotes from him.

“Video shows Jordan Salinas, the citizen who returned fire, taking on the shooter, and likely saving lives,” reported ABC’s Trevor Ault on Monday’s Good Morning America. 

He immediately followed up with this soundbite of Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks, who explained the affect Salinas and an off-duty state trooper had on the incident, at a press conference: “We believe their actions helped drive the suspect away from the scene, preventing further casualties.”

Ault also shared couple of badass quotes Salinas gave to a local paper about the shooting. "There a task that needs to be done, and we're the ones who need to do it,” he said. About the gunman, he added: "He did not like it when bullets started firing both ways."

 

 

“Also tonight, new images of the moment an armed bystander credited with saving lives tried to stop an attacker during a deadly mass shooting in Idaho,” announced NBC Nightly News fill-in anchor Hallie Jackson on Sunday night.

NBC correspondent Dana Griffin noted that Salinas “stepped in to stop shooter.” She shared a clip of an interview she did with a witness who agrees Salinas is a hero and credits him with saving his life by drawing the shooter’s attention:

GRIFFIN: Is he a hero?

LANE KOEHN: Yeah, I would say he definitely distracted the shooter from shooting more people. [Transition] The shooter solely focused on him and allowed us to get out. I mean, the car directly ahead of me was getting shot.

“Police crediting that man and an off-duty state trooper who also returned fire with helping save lives,” Griffin followed up.

 

 

As for CBS Mornings, anchor Kelly O’Grady declared this at the top of the segment:

Now to the latest on a deadly shooting at an In-n-Out Burger in southern Idaho. Two people are being hailed as heroes for stepping in to stop the shooter. Police say a man with a rife killed at least three people and wounded several others before an off-duty trooper and a civilian jumped into action.

Salinas drew the shooter’s attention and drew his fire; video shows him diving into some bushes for concealment. The return fire the shooter was receiving from Salinas and the off-duty trooper suppressed his ability to fire at innocents and drove him away. The shooter eventually killed himself.

This likely doesn’t indicate a change of heart on gun rights and civilian disarmament from the liberal media, but it’s a win for the Second Amendment community because it’s a very public example of how effective an armed civilian can be in defending those around them.

The transcripts are below. Click "expand" to read:

NBC Nightly News
August 2, 2026
6:41:29 p.m. Eastern

(…)

[On-screen headline: “Witness: Armed Hero confronted Idaho Gunman”]

HALLIE JACKSON: Also tonight, new images of the moment an armed bystander credited with saving lives tried to stop an attacker during a deadly mass shooting in Idaho. As we learn more tonight about the chaotic moments at that In-n-Out Burger where it happened. Dana Griffin is there tonight.

[Cuts to video]

DANA GRIFFIN: Tonight, new video showing the moments a man stepped in to stop shooter who opened fire outside this Idaho In-n-Out Burger Saturday afternoon, sending people running for their lives.

[Phone video of the incident]

GRIFFIN: You see a gunman with an AR-style rifle unleashing several rounds in the drive through of the popular fast food chain, which opened just days ago in Twin Falls. Another man then returns fire. Lane Koehn witnessed the shooting from his car. 

Is he a hero?

LANE KOEHN: Yeah, I would say he definitely distracted the shooter from shooting more people. [Transition] The shooter solely focused on him and allowed us to get out. I mean, the car directly ahead of me was getting shot.

GRIFFIN: Police crediting that man and an off-duty state trooper who also returned fire with helping save lives.

(…)

 

CBS Mornings
August 3, 2026
7:09:02 a.m. Eastern

KELLY O’GRADY: Now to the latest on a deadly shooting at an In-n-Out Burger in southern Idaho. Two people are being hailed as heroes for stepping in to stop the shooter. Police say a man with a rife killed at least three people and wounded several others before an off-duty trooper and a civilian jumped into action.

(…)

 

ABC’s Good Morning America
August 3, 2026
7:14:16 a.m. Eastern

(…)

TREVOR AULT: Video shows Jordan Salinas, the citizen who returned fire, taking on the shooter, and likely saving lives.

CHIEF MATTHEW HICKS (Twin Falls PD): We believe their actions helped drive the suspect away from the scene, preventing further casualties.

AULT: The 35-year-old tells The Idaho Statesman he had just pulled into the parking lot when he heard the gunfire. He said he felt no fear, adding, quote, “There's a task that needs to be done and we're the ones who need to do it.” And said the gunman “did not like it when bullets started firing both ways.”

(…)

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