Wild Card: Illinois Armed Citizen Defends Against Murderer
A Chicago card game turned violent when one of the players objected to another player spitting while playing. When the spitting player took a break from the game for a cigarette, the objecting man followed him outside and shot him several times in the back. The killer stood over the victim and continued to fire into his body. Police later counted 17 bullet wounds. Among the people who responded to the gunfire was a legally armed Chicago citizen. When the shooter pointed his pistol at the armed citizen, the citizen drew his own pistol and shot the killer, wounding him in the arm and driving him off. Responding police officers arrested the card-game assailant with the help of the armed citizen, who followed him and pointed him out.
Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois
Montana Armed Citizen Holds Murderer For Police
A Kalispell man had just left a gym when he heard gunshots and saw a gym employee running toward him. On being told that a customer had shot the gym manager, the man retrieved a pistol from his truck and approached the suspected shooter, who was entering a truck. When ordered to get out of the vehicle, the shooter instead fired two shots at the armed citizen. The citizen returned fire on the shooter, hitting and subduing him, and then held him for responding police. The armed citizen was wounded in the leg in the exchange.
The Flathead Beacon, Kalispell, Montana
Washington State Woman Shoots Burglar
Fearing for her life, a Moses Lake woman shot a man who broke into her home around midnight. Responding police arrested the intruder as he was leaving the property with non-lethal bullet wounds.
KEPR-TV Channel 4, Pasco, Washington
Oregon Woman Defends Against Bat-Wielding Assailant
A Marcola woman was attacked with a baseball bat and strangled by her domestic partner. Fearing for her life, she took up a pistol and shot her assailant in the shoulder, ending the attack. The assailant was later arrested for strangulation, menacing and assault.
KVAL-TV Channel 13, Eugene, Oregon
Louisiana Woman Shoots Armed Robber
A Baton Rouge woman agreed on Facebook Marketplace to meet a man to sell an Xbox. When she entered his home, he produced a pistol and put it to her head. The woman was able to flee the home and get to her car despite being fired at by the robber. She returned fire with her own pistol, wounding the robber and putting him to flight. He was later captured by responding police when he sought treatment for gunshot wounds at a local hospital.
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Arizona Homeowner Defends Against Armed Assailant
A fugitive wanted by authorities for a serious assault on a police officer harassed a Tonopah homeowner and his family with a wooden knife. Although the verbal exchange with the knife-wielding man ended with the intruder leaving the premises, the man returned later with a pistol, which he pointed at the homeowner’s father. Fearing for his family’s safety, the homeowner drew his pistol and shot the armed assailant, seriously wounding him in an exchange of gunfire that ended the incident.
KPNX-TV Channel 12, Phoenix
Nevada Car Owner Stops Theft
A North Las Vegas resident saw two men trying to steal a catalytic converter from a car. When confronted by the man, one of the thieves fired on him. The armed defender returned fire, wounding one of the suspects and causing the other to flee. The defender was not injured in the exchange, and the wounded thief suffered a minor injury. Both thieves were apprehended by police and will face numerous charges.
KLAS-TV Channel 8, Las Vegas
Armed Texan Thwarts Armed Robbery
A Port Arthur armed citizen was buying food from a fast-food restaurant when two armed men came in and attempted to rob the store. The armed citizen intervened to stop the robbery. Both robbers were wounded, one fatally, in the ensuing gunfight, and the surviving robber was later arrested by police. The armed citizen cooperated with police and was questioned and released.
WDRB.com, Louisville
Missouri Homeowner Prevails Against Two Burglars
A Festus man was at home around 2 a.m. when two men knocked on his door. Before answering, the homeowner took up a pistol. When he opened the door, he was immediately maced by one of the intruders. The homeowner fired on the burglars, driving them off. Responding police found one of the intruders lying on the doorstep of the home, dead from a gunshot to the head. His accomplice was arrested later and charged with murder, burglary and assault.
KSDK-TV Channel 5, St. Louis
Alabama Homeowner Shoots Burglar
A rural Limestone County homeowner was awakened one night by noise and a light on in his house. Taking up a gun when he went to investigate, he found that a strange man had broken in and was rifling through his items. When the burglar attacked him, the homeowner shot him and called police. The home’s residents were uninjured. The burglar will face charges on his release from the hospital.
WAAY-TV Channel 31, Huntsville, Alabama
Georgia Man Stops Domestic Attacker
An Athens man and woman were at home one day when the woman’s recently divorced ex-husband, a former NASCAR driver, attacked them with a hatchet. The woman’s companion used his legally carried pistol to defend the couple, fatally shooting the attacker several times in the chest. The ex-wife was seriously injured by gunfire but is expected to survive.
South Carolina Woman Fights Off Sexual Assault
A Rock Hill woman was walking alone near a mall late one evening when a man attacked her, tried to pull down her pants and attempted to force her into a nearby wooded area. The woman was able to get to the pistol she carried and shot at her attacker, driving him off. Police later apprehended an 18-year-old man suspected of being the assailant in this and several other sexual assaults.
WCCB-TV Channel UHF 18, Charlotte, North Carolina
