Brian Williams, a city commissioner from Palmetto, Florida, was recently involved in a self-defense incident, and he handled it perfectly. It was around 10 p.m. on December 27 when Williams’ nearby neighbor, Avelino Misreal Vasquez-Perez, was spotted driving recklessly by police. Thinking he might be impaired, they attempted to pull him over.
Instead of complying, Vasquez-Perez floored it and, only a few blocks down the road, crashed straight into the side of a home.
Vasquez-Perez then abandoned the vehicle, climbed a fence and ended up in Williams’ back yard. He then broke into Williams’ garage and waited there, hiding. Unfortunately for Vasquez-Perez, the commissioner’s daughter, who lives next door, saw something unusual happening in her dad’s yard and gave him a call.
Williams then armed himself and headed to the garage, where he confronted Vasquez-Perez at gunpoint. Williams told Vasquez-Perez to get on the ground, but the intruder didn’t listen: instead, he punched Williams and attempted to barge past him through the door into the house. That’s when Williams pushed Vasquez-Perez back and fired two rounds, hitting him twice.
When police arrived, Vasquez-Perez surrendered to them and was transported to a hospital. He is expected to recover fully. He’s been charged with resisting arrest without violence, burglary and battery in addition to traffic citations. Williams will not face charges.
Williams did not express anger toward Vasquez-Peres. Instead, he simply stated, “I am glad that everything turned out the way it did. I guess he is doing okay, and we are happy and glad that no one in my family was hurt.”
We applaud Commissioner Williams for doing exactly what any responsible gun owner would do: He responded to a threat on his life with no more (and no less) force than was necessary to defend himself and his family.
This is a portrayal of American gun ownership you won’t often get from the mainstream media, which is why we try to report on and archive as many defensive gun uses as we can.