Dark clouds rolled in and blocked out a Saturday afternoon’s rays of sunshine during a back-to-school picnic in Florida when a gunman sprayed multiple shots near the 150 people—many of whom were children—attending the “Peace in the City” event. Fortunately, an attendee with a carry permit was on hand to put a quick end to the disturbance. Titusville, Fla., police said the suspect had gotten into a fistfight with another person at the park. After those fisticuffs, one of the participants retreated, only to return a few minutes later with a gun. He squeezed off several rounds before the armed bystander shot him, sending him to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The shooting was live-streamed on Facebook by a disc jockey who was spinning the hits at the gathering. Police called the armed citizen a hero. “This park was filled with families and children, and, at that time, it was an active shooter situation for him, and he was trained enough to deal with it, and he did,” Titusville Police Sgt. Bill Amos said. (Florida Today, Brevard County, Fla., 8/5/18)
The Armed Citizen Extra
A teenage good Samaritan, who took it upon herself to check on a neighbor after a domestic violence incident, inadvertently found herself in the middle of the ugly situation when she discovered her neighbor’s ex-boyfriend in her own home. Realizing that her power had been cut, the teenage girl armed herself with a .22-cal. pistol, before stumbling upon the intruder. The man, armed with a knife, told her "she was going to die" before stabbing at her multiple times and slicing her arm. The teen fought back, kicking the man and firing at him, which ran him off. The alleged perpetrator was later booked into jail for assault, burglary, domestic violence assault and other charges. (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA, 9/7/18)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
October 1973
Three men arrived for an appointment at the Winchester, Ind., coin shop of Leon Hendrickson carrying pistols in an apparent robbery attempt. But in the scuffle which followed, Hendrickson’s wife shot one of the intruders fatally with a pistol and her husband held another suspect at bay with a shotgun. The third would-be bandit escaped by car and eluded police. (The Muncie Star, Muncie, Ind.)
