The Armed Citizen® March 2010

*Criminal justice instructor Michael Minto was exiting the Kaplan Career Institute when he saw a man being viciously stabbed. According to police, Minto ran onto the scene, drew a handgun for which he has a permit to carry and ordered the attacker to drop the knife. The suspect fled. The victim was treated and released from the hospital. “[If not for Minto], we might be talking about someone who died,” said Swatara Township, Pa., Deputy Police Chief Jason Umberger. “There are not many citizens out there that would have the courage to take that action.” (The Patriot-News, Harrisonburg, PA, 12/08/09)

*Fairfax County, Va., police officer Bud Walker says a resident had time to get his handgun because an armed burglar “was making quite a bit of noise trying to get into the house.” The resident made noise as well in an attempt to scare off the suspect. “The burglar…continued to try to get in even though he knew there was someone inside the house. Our experience is that most burglars…tend to target houses that are not occupied.” The suspect forced his way into the home and opened fire, wounding the resident, who returned fire and forced the intruder from is home. The resident is expected to recover. (The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., 12/18/09)

Armed Citizen Extra

(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)

When a 32-year-old homeowner was awakened late at night by the sound of dogs barking, she got out of bed and picked up her 9mm pistol. Near the kitchen, she spotted the would-be burglar and fired the gun but missed with her only bullet. The man then charged at her and the two struggled for a few minutes before the suspect ran out the door. The suspect was being held on bail and if convicted, would be charged with Class B felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison (Times Daily, Florence, AL, 8/19/09)

From The Armed Citizen Archive

March 1962: While one man held a shotgun pointed at him through the screen door of his Hamilton, Ga., café, another herded J.H. Roberts around the counter toward the cash. As Roberts passed his wife, she handed him a cal. 38 revolver and Roberts opened fire, felling the man in the café with bullets below the heart and in the arm. Roberts then turned his fire on the man outside, who drove away. Already wanted by police in connection with another holdup, he was soon picked up in his bullet-holed auto. (The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, GA)