The story is not unique. It has happened many times. A good person with a gun was able to prevent a shooting by taking down the shooter. Of course, those events do not get widely reported or periodically summarized as part of the national conversation on guns and gun control because they go against the leftwing anti-gun narratives.
This time it was the Turnberry Tower resident apartment in Las Vegas on June 26.
According to surveillance cameras, Andrew Warrender, 32, arrived at the building in a valet driven car at 2:14 in the afternoon. He had been a resident of Turnberry Towers for more than a year and had never caused any problems in the past. But residents reported that he was “acting strange” that day. The the valet driver later reported that Warrender told him he was “not okay.”
Forty-five minutes later, Warrender was caught on camera walking down the stairs from the 36th floor –holding a rifle. He exits the building from a side door and re-enters from the front door. He goes to the elevator lobby while talking on his cell phone.
Warrender is approached by a female office manager and assistant. He makes several threatening gestures. They duck behind a desk and ultimately barricade themselves in an office. He fires one shot before his gun jams. He again takes aim and again the gun malfunctions. At that time, he bursts through a glass door and starts to exit the building.
Regardless, the security guard takes down Warrender with a burst of 10 to 12 shots. Warrender was wounded, but not fatally. The guard holds his gun on Warrender until police and medics arrive. Warrender removes the ammunition from his gun as he waits.
The management and residents of Turnberry Tower hailed the security guard as a hero who very likely saved the lives of any number of employees, residents and other citizens who might have been in Warrrender’s path. The name of the hero of the day was not revealed at the time of this commentary.
This was a potential mass shooting that did not happen because a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun. That is not a unique situation. In many cases, the good guy with a gun did not even have to shoot – just threaten. Guns can take down a bad guy or just intimidate. In either case it ends a potentially dangerous situation.
I have often asked friends who want to limit the number of legal guns in the public environment this question. If you were in a situation where a mass shooter was targeting you and your family, would you hope that no good guy near you would have and use a gun? Personally, I do not own a gun, but if I was in that situation, I would be praying that everyone next to me had one – and would use them.
I am betting that the hardcore leftwingers will be questioning the actions of the security guard. After all, Warrrender’s gun had jammed. He was fleeing the building. Of course, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t fix the gun – and that he would not use it against other folks as he ran. Lethal force is totally justified when the person presents a reasonable threat of harm or death to others. The security guard’s action was more than justified. It is what he was hired to do.
When considering restricting the carrying and use of guns, we should keep in mind that the vast majority of honest gun owners are not committing crimes or horrific shootings. They are mostly committed by people with stolen guns – people who possess them illegally. Yes, there are rare occasions when a person commits a crime with a legally possessed gun – but that is the exception, not the rule.
The most important gun regulation is to get the illegal guns out of the hands of bad guys – the street gangs, convicted felons, folks who have been institutionalized for mental conditions — people who should not have guns. Conversely, I appreciate the good guys (and gals) who have them. They just may save my life one day.
So, there ‘tis.