Knife-wielding criminal threatens shoppers at South Carolina Walmart

“Davis grabbed a stanchion…”:+1:

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"Davis said sometimes citizens have to become vigilantes because “the cops can’t do it all by themselves.”
:love_you_gesture:

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Using an improvised weapon that allows you to maintain distance and attacking from behind were both very good risk limiting strategies for dealing with this mentally unhinged individual!

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This guy was being a total clown and got clobbered. While in the safe restraint by LE he wants to act like he’s resisting but secretly I’ll bet he was glad to be away from anyone really willing to lite into that Alpha Sierra Sierra.

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Yeah, could have done without the word “vigilante.” Fodder for anti-gunners.

Edited to add: Beware of appearing vain glorious, it may not yield the expected reward, but bite you harder than any reward can salve.

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I cringe when I see the word Vigilante.
Defender is much better. In my mind a Vigilante is going out to look for bad guys, so is an attacker in a way.
Just my personal thoughts.
I carry to defend myself and my loved ones.

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I believe vigilante comes from a word that meant protector as well as justice seeker in the past. But the word seems to be more associated with an after the fact judge, jury and executioner these days. I would have used a different word since he was clearly acting in the moment to defend others and not trying to impose some form of justice on Mr Unhinged.

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Yeah, but the gum chewing public is not going to concern themselves with the etymology of word; they will be concerned with everyday usage of it, and the stigma to mean “I’ll take the law into my own hands.”

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This is a great story for several reasons. My personal takeaway is this. It seems to me a CCW holder could have shot this guy. However, using the improvised weapon like the citizen did he 1) got the job done, 2) hurt the suspect less, and 3) likely resulted in a lot less hassles for the himself after the fact.

In other words, as well all know, just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you have to use it in every legally allowed circumstance.

Huge props to the citizen defender (notice I didn’t use the word vigilante.)

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I like the way the guy walks over, looks at the guy freaking out then turns around looks at the post, measures it up, picks it up and whacks the guy with it. Very methodical, well thought out and extremely effective tactics.

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You are correct about the origin on the word. It goes back to ancient Rome. Vigilantas or something like that. They were more fireman than cop, but watched for trouble and raised alarms, etc.

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I don’t think I would have shot this guy. First off there were all the stupid bystanders standing around within lunging distance watching and videoing this guy with their phones instead of heading to safety. But more importantly while he was a dangerous threat that could snap at any moment he was also clearly mentally disturbed and not actively attacking people except the one wild swing at that one guy who kept closing in while talking to him.

I don’t think deadly force was necessary in this case and the “vigilante’s” solution was a great balance of eliminating the threat with the least risk to everyone involved.

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Kudos to the gentleman for ending the situation without putting holes in the gentleman. I probably wouldn’t have thought outside the box like he did.

These stories are exactly why I decided to obtain my CWP… True or false, it seems there’s more insanity that happens at the most popular retailer/grocer in the US.

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His actions were not vigilantism, his statement is wrong and gives the wrong impression of self-defense and defense of others.

Davis said sometimes citizens have to become vigilantes because “the cops can’t do it all by themselves.”

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Depending on whether or not a clear shot was available - not likely in a crowded store.

Fully agree there.

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Wonder if a good dose of OC/pepper spray would have been as effective?

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No, it does not have the knock down power of a heavy post… :sunglasses:

Now, more seriously, no, pepper spray on a highly agitated, drugged-fueled individual likely would not do much, same as tasers on same said subject.

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Good old American citizen/veteran/guy with common sense is fine as well. But at least we can count on all the snowflake liberals to be filming said common sense actions!

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He acted like a clown and received a clown’s reward.

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He had his 5 minutes of fame and got owned by an audience member.

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