The Armed Citizen® Feb. 3, 2025

Armed Citizen® Today

A routine car-service job turned into a self-defense scenario for a mechanic in Hialeah, Fla., when he was forced to defend himself from a machete-wielding attacker.

Police say the 29-year-old mechanic worked for a mobile tire-repair service and was called to fix a vehicle owned by a 36-year-old man. When the mechanic showed up and began working on the vehicle, the 36-year-old car owner noticed that the mechanic had placed a used tire on his vehicle and became irate. He verbally threatened the mechanic, then obtained a machete and charged toward the mechanic.

The mechanic, fearing for his life, drew a firearm and shot the attacker, who died at the scene. Police initially took the 29-year-old mechanic into custody following the shooting, but further investigation revealed details of the attack. "Based on the information obtained by detectives, it was determined that this was a justified shooting in self-defense," Hialeah police told reporters. (NBC Miami; Hialeah, Fla.; 11/2/24)

From the Armed Citizen® Archives – December 1985

Waiting in his car for his daughter to get off work, a Norman, Okla., man watched as a suspicious character walked into the dry cleaners, where he pushed the daughter to the back of the building and bound her. The clerk's father waited until the armed robber was away from his daughter, cleaning out the cash register, then he walked in with a pistol. He held the robber at gunpoint for police. (The Oklahoman; Oklahoma City, Okla.)