While it’s normal for a deputy to protect the public, it’s less normal for an everyday citizen to get a chance to return the favor. But that’s what happened in Estero, Fla., recently when an armed citizen shot and killed someone who was attacking a law enforcement officer. The deputy and the assailant had been involved in a high-speed car chase on the interstate. After the vehicles came to a stop, the suspect and Deputy Dean Bardes got out of their respective cars. The suspect, who was armed, then started assaulting the law officer. A passerby, who had a license to carry a concealed handgun, stopped and told the attacker to stop beating up the deputy or he’d shoot. The attacker didn’t listen, so the armed citizen fired three times, killing the assailant. Bardes was treated and released for his injuries; he was not shot by the armed suspect. (WINK News, Fort Myers, Fla., 11/14/16)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
A thief entered a home in Lapeer, Mich., in hopes of stealing more goods in his string of robberies. He was surprised to find an 11-year-old girl with a shotgun inside the house. The thief fled the scene in a van filled with stolen goods from his previous robberies. The young girl was able to describe the vehicle to police, which was later used to capture the robber. The prosecutor said the girl’s bravery helped put away the thief for a long time. He has been sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. (Detroit Free Press, Lapeer, MI, 7/20/16)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
January 1974
Alerted by a barking dog and glimpses of prowlers, Charles Linder, of Lafayette, Ind., got his pistol before going to the front door. There a masked man brandishing a two-foot club confronted him and shouted: “This is a stickup!” Linder raised his pistol and the thug, along with an accomplice, ran off into the night. (The Journal & Courier, Lafayette, IN)
