Wednesday, September 14, 2016

KS: Unarmed Samaritan shot; Armed Samaritan Shoots Attacker


A story out of Kansas is lighting up the Internets.  Video of the scene shortly after the shooting was captured by Wendy Russel Macrorie.  She posted it on Facebook, and it has also been posted on YouTube.  World Net Daily gives a synopsis of what happened.  From wnd.com:
Two Good Samaritans are being credited with saving a woman’s life after she was attacked by two suspected carjackers who hit her over the head while she was putting her child into a car seat after leaving Walmart in Shawnee, Kansas, on Sunday.
A bystander, who rushed to the aid of the woman after hearing her screams, was shot multiple times by one of the suspects, according to police.
Another Good Samaritan saw what happened, got out of his car and shot one of the attackers dead.
A shopper who had just exited the store recorded the aftermath of the shootings and posted the video to Facebook.

Link to Video

The man lying down in the foreground is dead, and has been identified as John W. Simmons, III.

The first Samaritan was a veteran who served in Iraq and  Afghanistan.  He was shot and seriously wounded.  From fox4kc.com:
"The first phone call was that he was shot in the face and dying," she said. She was later relieved to learn that he had survived, despite wounds to his face and chest.

"We know parts of his left nostril was blown off and his face and upper left chest area are wounded," the man's father told FOX 4.

His mother said even with his injuries, the man was still concerned for the woman and her child.

"He was more concerned about how the baby was, and the woman," she explained.

Police said a second man, who's from Desoto, also ran to try to help the woman. He shot one of the suspects, killing him. That Good Samaritan was also injured, but he was treated and released from the hospital.

The second Samaritan from Desoto was armed.  He shot and killed John W. Simmons, III, and was also injured.

I wonder if he is the man in light green shirt and blue pants that is sitting in the background on the left. The green shirt man can be clearly seen in  the video. We may never know for if he is the armed Samaritan.  Many Good Samaritans have learned that keeping anonymous works better than being harassed by the media.

We do not know the full story.  This may have been an attempted robbery or carjacking.  It may have domestic implications. We do not have the facts at present.

We know that the armed Samaritan suffered minor injuries while the unarmed, veteran Samaritan ended in the hospital in critical condition.  His condition has been upgraded, as has the woman who was attacked.

Firearms are personal power multipliers.  They are called "equalizers" for a good reason.

Not everyone is willing to risk their life for someone in distress.  Not everyone is willing to stand by and let someone be killed.  Hope that you are not required to make that choice on the instant, with less than perfect information.


©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It really takes on the spot decision making capabilities, just who do you shoot when you walk into a serious situation. In this case it seems very evident but in some cases you just don't know. good rule of thumb once you decide to get involved, shoot the ones that start to move on you or are shooting at the unarmed. when you do have to shoot drop the bastard fast and hard. bad hits may allow return fire.