Police officers serve to protect the public, but a member of the public protected a police officer in Philadelphia recently. Dozens of high schoolers had formed a group to watch an Upper Darby police officer break up a fight between two teenage boys. While he was holding them apart, a couple of teens from the crowd jumped on the policeman’s back. A passerby repeatedly yelled at the attackers to get off of the officer, but to no avail. The man, though, had a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and he pulled his gun as one of the teens started reaching for the officer’s service gun. When one of the attackers saw the gun in the armed citizen’s hand, that boy passed the word among his cohorts, who then scurried off. Despite that attack, the police officer kept the original fighters contained and took them in for their part in the initial scuffle. “It was scary to do it,” the armed citizen said. “Would I do it again? Of course, but I don’t want to have to.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, 2/10/16)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
An Augusta, Ga., man was able to use his firearm to fend off a dangerously aggressive driver during a recent road-rage incident. The victim was driving down the highway when another man in a truck started trying to run him off the road—even using his pickup to twice ram the vehicle. Fearing for his life, the victim got hold of his gun and fired six rounds in the direction of his pursuer. The instigator was struck in the head and the shoulder, and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Investigators said no charges are being sought against the armed citizen at this time, as a preliminary investigation determined that the defensive use of his firearm was justified. (The Augusta Chronicle, Augusta, GA, 1/8/16)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
January 1978
Alerted by the sound of breaking glass, 75-year-old Cleo Green took a .22-cal. revolver and began searching her Oakland, Calif., home for an intruder. She entered the kitchen in time to find a burglar in the room. When the cornered thug attacked her, she fired three shots, critically wounding her assailant. (The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA)
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