8 Real-Life Cases of Ordinary People Saving Lives

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Father’s Gun

A recent high-school graduate, who had just signed up for the Air Force, was home alone at his parent’s house one afternoon when someone began pounding on the front door. The young man called his father, a Houston police officer, and advised him what was happening. While on the phone with his father and emergency services, a second person began banging hard on the back door of the home.

Moments later, two home invaders were inside the Fort Bend, Texas home, and the young man acted quickly: He got to his father’s gun, which he had never shot before, and opened fire on the suspects. One of the suspects was hit by the gunfire and pronounced dead at the scene. The second suspect fled the scene as soon as he realized the intended victim was armed and willing. According to the Houston Chronicle, the young man was not harmed during the incident.

Police Society

Robert Heinlein once observed, “An armed society is a polite society.” Stats seem to bear this out, with an almost linear relationship between higher rates of private gun ownership equaling lower rates of crime. It may also have a positive effect on recidivism.

Surveillance tapes and multiple witnesses observed two armed men donning masks and entering Krick’s Korner Market in Reading, Pennsylvania, just after 2:00 p.m. Inside, the men terrorized employees, brandished their weapons and made demands. Krick’s has been the target of robberies in the past, and this time the armed bandits left with cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets.

From outside the store, a concerned citizen witnessed the robbery going down. According to police, who viewed videotape of the shooting, as the masked William Medina and Robert DeCarr exited the store with their loot, the citizen told the robbers to stop where they were and that he was going to call the police. According to Berks County District Attorney John Adams, a scuffle ensued and the suspects drew their weapons. The citizen, however, responded by drawing his own legally carried weapon. According to witnesses and the video, he fired two rounds, striking each gunman once in the chest. The suspects were pronounced dead at the scene. Police questioned the armed citizen, reviewed video of the incident, and after speaking with a number of witnesses, released him.

Authorities say this was clearly a justified use of deadly force and, according to ABC News, the citizen is getting kudos from his community, “He was very brave, very brave. He could have run away, he chose not to,” Adams was quoted as saying. The man had a license to carry, and since he was threatened at gunpoint, no charges are expected to be filed.

Meanwhile, police arrested 21-year-old Alexander Garcia-Bialek, the alleged driver of the getaway car who now faces second-degree murder charges. According to Adams, under Pennsylvania state law, Garcia-Bialek is liable for the deaths of his associates because he is an accomplice to a felony resulting in a death.

Granny Got A Gun

A 72-year-old Youngstown, Ohio, woman retrieved her .22 revolver from the bedroom when she heard someone break the glass of her front window. She fired a single shot at the intruder, but missed. Of course, with a .22, a warning shot may be as good as any. With the drop on the invader, she called 911 and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

“I got him in the kitchen here,” the 72-year-old victim told the 911 operator. “What do you mean you have him in the kitchen?” the 911 operator asked.

The elderly woman told the dispatcher, “I got him sitting on the floor in the kitchen.” And when asked if she had a weapon on him, she replied, “Yes I do.”

The suspect originally said he broke into the home because someone was chasing him. Police investigated that claim and charged him with burglary. The only injuries the suspect suffered were cuts from the glass window he broke. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.

Not-So-Easy Targets

Three thugs thought a man and his female jogging companion would be easy targets for an armed robbery, but all three were shot, one of them killed. Further, under Missouri law, the two surviving suspects will face second-degree murder charges in the death of their friend: participants in crimes in which someone is killed may be charged with murder, even if they didn’t pull the trigger.

According to police, the man—an off-duty policeman carrying a .40 handgun—and his friend stopped jogging near a corner. A young man walked slowly past them. The deputy grew suspicious, according to police, and put his gun at his side. As the deputy and the woman turned the corner, three men wearing hooded shirts and dark clothing came
toward them and announced they were going to rob them.

The men were concealing their faces when one pointed a gun at the jogger. One thug threatened, “Don’t make me kill you.” The others hid their hands under their clothes, acting as if they had guns. When the deputy saw the gun, he pulled his, announced he was a police officer. He told investigators that he saw the gun, feared for his life and opened fire. All three of the suspects were hit. One of the suspects died, while the other two suspects were each shot and later hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries.

“If someone is going to rob you and point a gun at you, you can assume they have intent to kill you and take your worldly possessions,” St. Charles County Sheriff Tom Neer told the St. Louis Today.

Wrong Road

A working mom and law-school student from Indianapolis had the right answer for a group of armed teenagers who tried to steal her car. Arriving home after work at 11:30 p.m., she was approached by a group of youths. “I really didn’t think too much about it, one…was smiling,” she told Fox 59.

He was smiling, but he quickly pulled out a gun. “He told me to…give him my keys,” she said. She did turn over her keys, but realizing all her law books and belongings were in the car, and with the gun still pointed at her, she reached into her center console to pull out her own gun.

According to the victim, the teenager yelled “Oh s***” and then ran. As a mom, the incident bothered her. “If these were my kids and they were out at 11:30 at night,
terrorizing women, I would scare the life out of them,” she told reporters.

She doesn’t want to be a poster child for concealed carry, but she does want everyone—especially women—to keep their own safety in mind. “You have to be aware of what can happen,” she said. “They need to stop this. They’re not going down a good road.”

Evil Intent

When a young man with a history of sexual offenses armed himself and broke into a Georgia woman’s home and confronted her with a knife, it was obvious he had evil intent. Fortunately, the intended victim reacted quickly, armed herself with a .22 pistol and shot and killed her would-be assailant.

For deadly defense, a weapon whose caliber starts with “4” is generally preferable to one that starts with “2,” but the other half of the equation is the grit and skill to use it effectively, which in this case saved the day. When a female of mature years has to defend against a younger adult male, the weapon at hand may be the equalizer.

Wrong House

Just because a man is elderly, it doesn’t mean he’s an easy victim for a home invader. An 82-year-old man from Salem, Oregon, was at home with his wife early one fall morning when a man tried to break into their house shortly after 6:00 a.m. The homeowner was able to arm himself with a handgun and shot the suspect as he entered the home.

The suspect was transported to a Salem hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound and was expected to survive, according to Portland station KATU. Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sergeant Chris Baldridge said the suspect, who was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, would be charged with burglary and trespassing.

.45 Car Security

What started as a normal dog walk for a Washington State man suddenly took a bad turn when he went outside and encountered a man trying to steal his truck from his driveway.

The vehicle owner confronted the man, prompting the suspected car thief to draw a .45 caliber handgun. In response, the homeowner drew his own 9mm pistol. A
gunfight ensued, wherein the suspect suffered multiple gunshot wounds and the victim remained unharmed.

The victim’s aunt, who was present during the confrontation, hailed her nephew as a hero for saving her life. She has no doubt that her nephew was definitely justified in fatally wounding the armed thief. “My life was in danger. My nephew’s life was in danger. And he did the right thing even though it ended really bad and really sad,” she told KOMO News. The victim’s aunt attempted CPR on the suspect until emergency responders arrived.