It’s incredible that everyone in the country doesn’t know Raul Mendez by name. But most don’t. The mainstream news won’t report on his actions. No news magazine shows seem to be doing a follow up on the hero’s last stand. Of course, if he were a deranged madman, using his sidearm to shoot up a mall or school, then the media would be all over it. But that’s not Mendez’s story.

Raul Mendez: Armed Citizen Hero

Instead, Mendez stopped a madman. He took out a killer. He ended an active shooter situation, a mass shooting in progress, saving his friends and family. If Raul were a cop or soldier, many more would probably know his name. But Raul drew his pistol from concealment. He exercised his 2nd Amendment rights. And that, of course, blows up the narrative of the nightly news.

It all happened while attending a Fourth of July party with family and friends. A neighbor of the party host, identified as 46-year-old Jason Hunt, unprovoked, opened fire on the party. The shooter immediately shot and killed one of Raul’s friends. Then Mendez took a bullet to the head.

“My back was turned,” Raul told Fox News. “I heard the first gunshot and that’s what made me, kind of turn my head … But by the time I even was able to look and see what was going on, a bullet already had struck the side of my face.” 

Fighting for Their Lives

Mendez’ seven-month pregnant wife rushed to his side, reported Fox News. She then grabbed up their two daughters, fleeing toward a bedroom to barricade inside.

“She barricaded the door with the dresser,” Mendez said. “There were three other children in there, not including my two daughters. A total of five kids. She … throws them in the closet, throws clothes over them. Tells them, ‘Be quiet. Do not make a peep if you hear loud noises in this room.'”

While the family scrambled to find cover, Mendez lay wounded on the floor. Hunt continued his rampage on the party, as two other women fought the shooter, all the while screaming for Mendez to help them.

“By the glory of God or the adrenaline and just everything, just the will to live and the will to protect my family, I was able to hear those pleas, those yells for help. I heard my name. And I was able to get up,” he said, reported Fox News. 

Stopping a Mass Shooter

He not only got up–Mendez fought back. Incredibly, after taking a round that ripped through his face and exited his left eye, shattering his jaw in the process, he got back into the fight. Mendez drew his pistol and pumped four rounds into the suspect’s chest. Had Mendez performed these same actions as a soldier or Marine in some far-off war, he’d likely receive a Silver Star or Medal of Honor. But in America, fighting back and protecting your loved ones remains a political hot button. And the media won’t support your right to fight for your life. They just don’t get it. But Raul Mendez does.

“If I didn’t have my gun with me, everyone in the house would have died. The news vans would’ve been front and center. But because I did, you never even heard about it,” Mendez said.