This day and age, people need to stay alert to danger everyone, especially concealed carriers. One case proving this is how an armed Phoenix citizen stopped the kidnapping attempt of an 11-year-old girl.
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Fox 10 reports that the girl was walking to school on April 3rd when a man approached her from behind. Then, he grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her back, and wrapped his other arm around her face. However, a nearby witness saw what was happening and came to the girl’s aid. The citizen knocked the suspect to the ground and told him to leave her alone. He then pulled a gun and told the man to leave.
People in the neighborhood are extremely concerned about the incident, claiming the area is normally very quiet. Police are looking for the suspect, and have even increased patrols in the area.
Armed Phoenix Citizen Should Have Held Suspect for Police
In this incident of a good guy with a gun, the armed Phoenix citizen performed pretty well. He stopped the attack. However, since he had the means, he should have held the suspect until police arrived. He could have held the gun on the suspect while dialing 911. Or he could have sent the girl to a nearby house if he didn’t have his cell phone. Either way, he could have used his gun and strong verbal commands to tell the suspect to get on the ground and stay there.
Of course, if the suspect took off running, he shouldn’t fire or pursue, but in many cases bad folks submit to a strong presence. This could have taken a potential bad guy off the streets.
Statement From the Girl’s School
The school the girl attends — Village Meadows Elementary — has actually done a good job keeping parents up to date on the incident. In fact, it released a statement that included some excellent safety tips to discuss with children.
- Always walk or ride in groups
- Pay attention to your surroundings
- Do not talk to strangers, if approached
- If approached, run away immediately, and tell a parent, school staff member or call 911
- Do not wait for parent pick-up/rides home in areas outside of campus that are not supervised
Consider talking to your kids about safety, including potential methods to fight off an attacker. This also makes a good case for always having a gun at your side; you never know when you might need it.