WV: Woman with Pistol Stops Mass Casualties, Shoot Man who was firing an AR15 at Unrelated Graduation Partygoers

 Kanawa County Courthouse, WV, Public domain

 

As a counterpoint to the mass murder in a Texas School, where an unopposed murderer killed 21 children and 2 adults in a "gun free" school. A carreer criminal with an AR15 opened fire on an unrelated birthday party in West Virginia. He was killed by a woman armed with a pistol before he hit any of the children and adults at the party. From the BBC:

A US woman has fatally shot a man who opened fire on a crowd of people with a semi-automatic rifle in Charleston, West Virginia.

Dennis Butler, a 37-year-old with an extensive criminal history, was killed after he targeted a group of around 40 people attending a birthday party.

Police spokesman Tony Hazelett said the woman's quick reaction saved lives and may have prevented a mass shooting.

It comes amid a national debate over guns after a school shooting in Texas.

Butler had driven by the area earlier on Wednesday evening when he was warned to slow down because children were playing.

He returned armed with an AR-15-type rifle and opened fire from his vehicle on the birthday-graduation party outside the apartment complex in the city.

Mr Hazelett told a news conference that the woman who fired back did not have any law enforcement background. She has not been identified.

"She's just a member of the community who was carrying her weapon lawfully," he said. "And instead of running from the threat she engaged with the threat and saved several lives."

The woman remained at the scene after the shooting, and is co-operating with investigators.

While the investigation remains in the early stages in West Virginia, there is much less to investigate than in Texas. The attempted murderer is dead. He has a long criminal history. From wchstv.com:

Court records indicate as a convicted felon Butler was not entitled to own any guns. He was also wanted by deputies on a misdemeanor charge of transferring and receiving stolen goods from earlier this year. Kanawha magistrate court records show some 20 arrests for local charges.

Butler was a convicted felon and a frequent flyer at the Kanawha County Judicial Annex when it came to getting arrested. Often, those charges were dismissed when witnesses failed to show up.

In 2016, Butler faced unlawful and malicious wounding charges after a woman was shot in Charleston’s East Side. A felon with a firearm charge was linked by court documents to family and child neglect and abuse convictions in Pennsylvania. 

The woman who shot and killed Butler is known, and is cooperating with police. We do not know how many shots Butler was able to fire before he was stopped. Butler was shot multiple times, so she apparently fired rapidly and accurately. The assault started and was stopped very quickly, a little before 10:45 in the evening. More details are likely to be released in the days to come. 

©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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From wowktv.com:

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Charleston Police say that a woman’s actions on Wednesday night may have prevented a mass casualty event.

According to CPD around 10:45 on Wednesday night officers arrived outside of the Renaissance Circle apartment complex for a report of a shooting. When police got there, they found the gunshot victim, 37-year-old Dennis Butler of Charleston, with multiple gunshot wounds. Butler later died.

Police say they discovered that earlier that night, Butler was approached about speeding in the apartment complex while children were playing. Police say Butler then left the complex and returned a short time later when he parked his vehicle in front of the apartment, pulled out an AR-15 style rifle and started firing at people attending a party.

Police say a bystander attending the party quickly pulled out her pistol and fired at Butler, fatally injuring him.

“Instead of running from the threat, she engaged with the threat and saved several lives last night,” said Lieutenant Tony Hazelett. “She was lawfully carrying a firearm and stopped a threat. There was a graduation party and a party with kids so obviously someone just graduated high school and we could have had a casualty shooting.”

Charleston Police say several witnesses and the person who fired the gun waited on police to get there and fully cooperated with the investigation.

At this time, no one has been charged in the shooting. The investigation now goes to the Kanawha County Prosecutor’s office for review. 

 

From the BBC: 

 

A US woman has fatally shot a man who opened fire on a crowd of people with a semi-automatic rifle in Charleston, West Virginia.

Dennis Butler, a 37-year-old with an extensive criminal history, was killed after he targeted a group of around 40 people attending a birthday party.

Police spokesman Tony Hazelett said the woman's quick reaction saved lives and may have prevented a mass shooting.

It comes amid a national debate over guns after a school shooting in Texas.

Butler had driven by the area earlier on Wednesday evening when he was warned to slow down because children were playing.

He returned armed with an AR-15-type rifle and opened fire from his vehicle on the birthday-graduation party outside the apartment complex in the city. 

 

Mr Hazelett told a news conference that the woman who fired back did not have any law enforcement background. She has not been identified.

"She's just a member of the community who was carrying her weapon lawfully," he said. "And instead of running from the threat she engaged with the threat and saved several lives."

The woman remained at the scene after the shooting, and is co-operating with investigators.

Charges will not be filed against her, police added.

Butler was found dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

Mr Hazelett said it is not yet clear how Butler obtained the weapon - which he was not legally allowed to carry as a convicted felon.

The shooting comes after a teenage gunman killed 21 people at a Texas primary school with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that had been purchased legally.

The attack, America's worst school shooting in a decade, reignited the debate over private gun ownership, which is enshrined in the US Constitution.