It’s true, despite what you may hear or read, mass shootings in the United States are declining. I originally compiled this list a year ago, but given the recent situation at Arapahoe High School, it seems like a good time to revisit it. There have been several documented cases in which armed citizens have stopped what could have been mass attacks by gunmen. The Pearl, Mississippi school shooting was stopped by the vice principal Joel Myrick with a Colt .45, The Appalachian School shooting was stopped by two students with handguns. In both cases, the armed citizens threatened the shooter and stopped the mayhem without firing . . .
Pearl High School – A 16-year-old killed two students and injured seven others at his school after murdering his mother at home.
Appalachian Law School – Three people killed and three more wounded when a former student opened fire.
Muskegon Shooting – Plans to slay everyone in a Muskegon, Michigan, store and steal enough cash and jewelry to feed their “gnawing hunger for crack cocaine” fell apart for a band of would-be killers after one of their victims fought back.
New Life Church – The mass church shooting in Colorado Springs was stopped when the shooter was shot by a church member with a CCW permit.
Santa Clara Gunshop – The Santa Clara gunshop shooting in 1999 was stopped by an armed citizen after the shooter declared that he was going to kill everyone. Police found a list of intended victims in his car. Only the perpetrator, Richard Gable Stevens, was shot.
Anniston Shoney’s Shooting – In of December, 1991 in Anniston, Alabama, a CCW holder stopped armed robbers who were herding employees and customers into a cooler. The CCW holder both robbers, killing one.
Golden Food Market Shooting – In Virginia in July 13, 2009 at the Golden Food Market, a gunman tried to shoot several people and was stopped by a CCW carrier.
Early Texas Peach House Shooting – In Early Texas, armed citizen Vic Stacy shot and stopped a deranged man who had just murdered two neighbors and was firing at police with a rifle. Stacy made a very long shot with his revolver, three times as far as the perpetrator was from the police officer, who had an AR-15 type rifle.
AT&T Store Link – Abraham Dickman had a history of anger against employees of the AT&T store in New York Mills, New York. On May 27th, 2010, he walked into the store with a .357 and a list of six employees. He shot the first employee, but Donald J. Moore, an off duty police officer who was allowed to carry his own handgun when not on duty, drew and fired his .40 caliber pistol killing Dickman before he could fire any more shots.
College Park Link – Two gunman entered a party and ordered the men separated from the women. Then they started counting bullets. “The other guy asked how many (bullets) he had. He said he had enough,” said Bailey.
When one of the assailants prepared to rape a girl, a student was able to access a handgun and engage the two attackers in a firefight, driving one off and killing the other before the thug could rape his girlfriend.
“I think all of us are really cognizant of the fact that we could have all been killed,” said Bailey.
Trolley Square Shooting – Another off duty police officer stopped the Trolley Square shooting in Salt Lake City with his personal handgun. He stopped the killing and contained the shooter until police reinforcements arrived and ended the situation.
Winnemuca Shooting – In Winnemucca, NV in 2008, the shooter, Ernesto Villagomez, entered the Players Bar and Grill and killed two people. He reloaded and continued to shoot when a citizen with a concealed carry permit shot him and stopped the killing.
Parker Middle School Dance Shooting – 14-year-old Andrew Jerome Wurst killed one person and wounded three others before he was confronted by James Strand who subdued Wurst with a shotgun and held him until police arrived.
Destiny Christian Center Shooting – Kiarron Parker rammed his car into another vehicle in the church parking lot, got out and attempted to kill multiple church members. He killed one before a member of the congregation, the nephew of the lady he’d killed and an off duty police officer, drew his handgun and shot Parker.
Tyler Courthouse Shooting – While police officers were involved in this shooting before and after a CCW holder, Mark Alan Wilson intervened, no more bystanders were killed. The shooter wore body armor and return fire, killing the CCW holder.
Clackamas Concealed Carry Showdown – I include this story because it is recent and has been getting some interest on the net. This case is not as clear as the others listed. This incident is similar to the more common defensive uses of guns because the mere display of the gun was enough to defuse the situation. We’ll never know if the shooter decided to commit suicide because he was confronted by Nick Meli, the CCW holder, but many mass shooters commit suicide when they meet armed resistance.
Copyright Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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