[Properly speaking, Willeford and Langendorff didn’t stop the mass killing in the Sutherland Springs church. But they did prevent the killer, who was still heavily armed, from doing any further harm. – J.E.]
A man armed with a rifle walked into the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, Nov. 5 and killed 26 congregants, fleeing in an SUV after exchanging shots with a church neighbor.
The neighbor, retired NRA instructor Stephen Willeford, and Johnnie Langendorff have been named heroes after the tragedy. Willeford shot the gunman and caused him to flee, while Langendorff drove his truck about 95 miles per hour in a high-speed chase to catch the killer.
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In honor of the Texas heroes and the 2nd amendment that secures the right for good people to carry guns, The Daily Caller News Foundation has compiled a list of a 11 other times in the past decade where a tragedy was cut short or wholly averted because of good people with guns.
Some of the following were originally gathered by Eugene Volokh for his column in The Washington Post:
1. July 2017 – A politically motivated gunman attempted to massacre Republican congressman during a congressional baseball practice. He struck four people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Congressional police attending the practice because of Scalise returned fire, pinning the shooter down until officers from the Alexandria Police Department arrived, eventually killing the shooter.
2. September 2017 – An immigrant shot and killed a woman walking to her car in a church parking lot after the service. He entered the church where 22-year-old Robert Engle confronted the killer. Engle fought the gunman, suffering a blow to the head. The gunman, however, accidentally shot himself in the chest during the brawl. Engle, permitted to carry a pistol, retrieved his gun from his car and held the shooter until police arrived.
3. May 2015 – Two gunmen targeted a “Draw The Prophet” event in Texas where local artists were drawing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed. An off-duty traffic officer working security for the event saw the would-be killers pull up in a black van, and he got out of his police cruiser to investigate. The two gunmen then exited their van and opened fire. The traffic cop answered with his handgun, killing both assailants.
4. April 2015 – A gunman fired into a crowd in Chicago’s Logan Square. An Uber driver with a concealed-carry permit drew his pistol and shot the assailant six times, knocking him down and ending the threat.
5. March 2015 – An argument in a Philadelphia barbershop escalated until one man pulled a gun and began firing wildly. Another man with a concealed-carry permit brought out his own weapon, shooting and killing the attacker.
6. July 2014 – A psychiatric patient entered a “gun-free” hospital alongside his case worker. The patient had an appointment to see Dr. Lee Silverman, his psychiatrist. After arguing in the doctor’s office, the patient took out a gun and began firing, trying to kill Silverman. The attacker killed his case worker instead, only grazing the doctor. Silverman took out his own gun, shooting and incapacitating his patient.
7. September 2012 – A man in a Plymouth, Penn. bar, angry at being kicked out, took out a gun and began shooting, killing one and wounding another. He then trained his gun on others when bar patron Mark Ktytor, who has a concealed-carry permit, took out his gun and shot the attacker several times, dropping him.
8. March 2012 – A man armed with a shotgun kicked open the doors to a church in South Carolina. Before any shots were fired, the pastor’s grandson, Aaron Guyton, pulled his gun on the man and held him at gunpoint while several other parishioners disarmed him. Guyton has a concealed-carry permit.
9. May 2009 – Two armed robbers broke into an apartment filled with 10 people attending a party. The gunmen made everyone lie on the floor while they stripped people of their valuables. The accomplices then took two women into a back room where one of the armed men intended to rape and kill them, and then the rest of the hostages. One of the partygoers, Marine Sean Barber who was participating in a military program for Marines to attend college, retrieved a gun he had hidden in the apartment. Barber shot one robber, who fled. Barber then went to the bedroom where the other robber was about to rape the women, shot the man and chased him out of the apartment, where he later died of his injuries.
10. May 2008 – A man killed two people in a bar in Winnemucca, Nev. When he stopped firing to reload his weapon, a concealed carry permit holding patron shot and killed him.
11. December 2007 – A disgruntled man entered a church in Arvada, Colo. and proceeded to kill four people before being shot himself by volunteer church security guard Jeanne Assam. The man committed suicide after Assam hit him multiple times.
This report, by Tim Pearce, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
