[Spoiler alert]
I ran into similar problems with many of the "timed events", it turns out you dont need to push it once, you need to click the button multiple times for many of those events... Spam that key. hit it as fast as you can.... Then they switch it up by making other events really "timed events", where you must block an attack at a precise moment designated by DICE, or just shoot the good guy without aiming before he shoots you.