Stephen Willeford, Describes Stopping Gunman (Texas Church)

[Pro_Patria_431]

This seems like this belongs in the Mindset forum.

[LittleLebowski]

This seems like this belongs in the Mindset forum.

Dupe, but needs to be repeated.

[AlwaysLearning]

He makes a good point that if he'd gone out there with a handgun vs a guy in body armor it wouldn't have ended well.

That's what happened in the Tyler Courthouse Shooting:

A local resident, Mark Alan Wilson, was in his downtown loft when he heard the shooting begin. He looked out his window and saw Arroyo at the courthouse steps engaged in a shootout with law enforcement. Wilson, who held a Texas concealed handgun permit, immediately armed himself with his Colt .45 caliber pistol, and left his residence to intervene in the gun battle. Because Arroyo was already engaged in a heated gun battle with sheriff's deputies and Tyler police officers, he did not see Wilson approach from behind.

As Wilson approached Arroyo from behind, Arroyo was taking aim at his son whom he had already shot in the leg and wounded. Acting to defend the life of Arroyo's son, Wilson fired a round from approximately 50 feet, which struck Arroyo in the back, causing him to stumble and taking his attention away from his son. A witness who saw Wilson's round strike Arroyo reported seeing "white puffs of powder-like substance" come from Arroyo's clothing. This is believed to be the first time Arroyo was hit or injured during his attack on the courthouse.

Wilson was forced to take cover behind Arroyo's truck in a prone position and exchanged fire with Arroyo. As Arroyo began to approach Wilson's position, he stood up from behind cover and fired again, hitting Arroyo. Unknown to Wilson, Arroyo was wearing a bulletproof vest, rendering Wilson's shots ineffective. Arroyo eventually fired a shot that struck Wilson, who faltered and fell from the view of witnesses, face down behind Arroyo's truck. Arroyo then walked up to Wilson and fired three more shots at him, killing him.

Wilson was forced to take cover behind Arroyo's truck in a prone position and exchanged fire with Arroyo. As Arroyo began to approach Wilson's position, he stood up from behind cover and fired again, hitting Arroyo. Unknown to Wilson, Arroyo was wearing a bulletproof vest, rendering Wilson's shots ineffective. Arroyo eventually fired a shot that struck Wilson, who faltered and fell from the view of witnesses, face down behind Arroyo's truck. Arroyo then walked up to Wilson and fired three more shots at him, killing him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_courthouse_shooting

[Savage Hands]

He used an AR15 with an EOTech, msm will ignore this.

[Mark D]

"Why did you run out of house the barefoot?"

"Because I didn't have shoes on."

He shoved a few rounds into a magazine and ran barefoot to stop an active shooting. If only there were more of his kind...

[Lyonsgrid]

This is one solid guy who put in great work.

[Chance]

I'm going to get screamed at for saying this, but I'm afraid people are going to use this as an example to advocate doing things that aren't a very good idea.

Taking an AR to an active shooting scene: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Flagging down a random motorist and, conversely, picking up an armed man you don't know: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

A high-speed chase in a civilian vehicle: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Both these guys are tremendous heroes, there's no doubt about it. But I'm reluctant to use this as a case study to inform future tactics for civilians.

[Rick62]

I'm going to get screamed at for saying this, but I'm afraid people are going to use this as an example to advocate doing things that aren't a very good idea.

Taking an AR to an active shooting scene: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Flagging down a random motorist and, conversely, picking up an armed man you don't know: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

A high-speed chase in a civilian vehicle: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Both these guys are tremendous heroes, there's no doubt about it. But I'm reluctant to use this as a case study to inform future tactics for civilians.

You’re right. Taken by themselves- those are all pretty bad ideas, each of which could’ve had disastrous results.
But as those actions came together, the steps taken by these two brave men as they stared into the face of unspeakable evil made a dramatic and immediate impact on how this event turned out. Thank God for them.
FWIW I’m not screaming as I agree completely with your sentiment. This certainly isn’t a template that people should look to follow going forward.


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[RoyGBiv]

I'm going to get screamed at for saying this, but I'm afraid people are going to use this as an example to advocate doing things that aren't a very good idea.

Taking an AR to an active shooting scene: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Flagging down a random motorist and, conversely, picking up an armed man you don't know: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

A high-speed chase in a civilian vehicle: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Both these guys are tremendous heroes, there's no doubt about it. But I'm reluctant to use this as a case study to inform future tactics for civilians.

The pickup driver had a view of the scene unfolding, so he knew he was picking up the defender, not the killer.

What's the saying...?? No plan ever survives contact with the enemy... or something like that.

Agreed that many things went right (that could have gone differently) to bring down that killer.

[Lester Polfus]

I'm going to get screamed at for saying this, but I'm afraid people are going to use this as an example to advocate doing things that aren't a very good idea.

Taking an AR to an active shooting scene: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Flagging down a random motorist and, conversely, picking up an armed man you don't know: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

A high-speed chase in a civilian vehicle: that worked out, and I'm glad, but it's not a good idea.

Both these guys are tremendous heroes, there's no doubt about it. But I'm reluctant to use this as a case study to inform future tactics for civilians.

I'm grateful to both these men, and I agree with you.

Regarding picking up the guy with the rifle, my impression is this town is super small. I grew up in a pretty small place, and even if I didn't know somebody, and maybe didn't actively recognize them, I think subconsciously I had an idea of who was familiar and who wasn't I have no idea if that was at play here.