Wednesday, June 03, 2015

GA: Open Carrier Stops Mass Killing






Link to video of start of shooting

In Conyers, Georgia, a citizen, openly carrying a holstered pistol, returned fire at a man who had already killed two people.   The attack appears to be a planned mass shooting.   The attacker was armed with a semiautomatic pistol, which he is seen firing in the video.  The open carrier is off screen and/or shoots after the end of the short video clip.

When the open carrier, Todd Scott, returned fire, the active shooter stopped the attack, and fled the store.  He returned to the home where he lived with his parents, and shot and wounded them both.   At this point the police arrived at the parents home.  

The attacker allegedly pointed an AR-15 type rifle, with a double drum magazine, at the police.   They shot and killed him.  From wsmv.com:
CONYERS, GA (CBS46) -
A customer of a Rockdale County liquor store said he opened fire on a gunman who shot and killed a store owner and another customer.

(snip)

Police said Pitts left the liquor store, but later returned and opened fire on the owner and customers.

“I assume that this man was not going to stop, so I came up,” said Scott.

Scott was carrying a weapon and fired a shot at Pitts. He said he is not sure whether Pitts was struck.

The open carrier, Todd Scott, appears to be carrying a Smith & Wesson 4013TSW, in a Serpa retention holster.  The pistol is clearly marked .40 S&W.


Todd Scott was not sure if he hit the active shooter, because when he returned fire, the attack stopped and the attacker fled the store.

 

Link to Video and Interview with Todd Scott 

The attacker traveled a little over four miles back to his parents house, where he shot and wounded both of them.   The parents house is on the 3500 block of Ebenezer Rd.   It is not clear what firearm he shot them with, but both are in the hospital in stable condition.  


The police likely arrived shortly after the attacker shot his parents.  It has been reported that he pointed the rifle, below, at them.   That is when the police shot and killed him.




The brass appears to be .223/5.56mm. I have not seen reports to definitely indicate that the rifle was fired. The empty brass could be from the police. If the parents were shot with a .223, they are lucky to have survived.

The .223 was not used in the liquor store attack. It is not clear at what point the attacker accessed the rifle. This story reports that shots were fired at the police at the 3500 Ebenezer road location. However, the story also says that the rifle was used in the liquor store shooting, which we know is incorrect. It is an early report.

Many Internet commandos have indicated that a determined attacker would "shoot the open carrier first". It did not happen in this case. The people in the store are fortunate that Todd Scott was on the scene and was able to stop the attack before more people were killed.

This one will be added to the list: Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Update:  In this interview, Todd Scott says that he shot 5-6 times.   The police say that the active shooter was wearing body armor.

In this story, Rockdale Sheriff  Eric Levett calls Todd Scott a Hero

Link to Gun Watch

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have never liked the two handed combat stance for pistol shooting. I shoot everything from a Ruger bear cat 22 to a desert eagle 44mag one handed and I am very accurate. One handed shooting makes you a smaller target for return fire. It is much faster to get off that first shot and if you can not learn to use the sights use a shot gun. Glen Ford the actor developed a one handed double shot draw that was extremely fast. Using his method you should be able to get off three shots before a two handed shooter gets the first shot off. If you can not hit something the size of a basket ball at 50 feet with out using the sights get a shot gun. If you want to light matches at 50 feet use the sights. Most human targets are much larger than a basket ball.

msglaigaie said...

This is why I Openly Carry a well holstered pistol all day, every day. You never know when this, or something like this will happen. Be prepared to defend you and yours, you may just be on your own. opencarry.org

Dan said...

The open carrier was not shot most likely because the killer was not aware he was armed. People, even nutjobs chicken walk through the day not noticing many things in plain sight. There is simply no way of knowing in this case if the killer was aware of the citizen carrying or not prior to being fired upon and so no way to know whether he would have targeted him first or not. It is however a valid tactical concern. Not all criminals are stupid, high or acting irrationally, many are meticulous and practical. It's very possible that such a person might scout a location prior to initiating a plan in order to account for the possibility of effective resistance.

Anonymous said...

If someone had been carrying when Gabby Gifford was shot they could have saved many lives.

Anonymous said...

A 9mm penetrates body armor like it is not even there, don't ask me why it just does. That is why I am still looking for a berretta m92 in 9mm.

Anonymous said...

"A 9mm penetrates body armor like it is not even there, don't ask me why it just does. That is why I am still looking for a Beretta m92 in 9mm."

The above comment silliness is either from and Anti-Gun Troll or a Moron (possibly both).

Body Armor comes in a number of levels. II, IIA, III, IIIA, IV etc..

Depending upon the body armor type certain ammunition fired from certain weapons will or will not defeat the Body Armor.. Modern Handgun Manufacturers are barred from Manufacturing for sale to the General Public Ammunition that will under normal circumstances defeat (ie: Penetrate) the most commonly worn Soft Body Armors.

Firearms and the technical specification/capabilities of ammunition is Science and Factually based..

Hype and misinformation are the province of Anti-Second Amendment Advocates. Political nonsense.