A father and a son were in a 7 Eleven store in Maryland when an armed robber pulled out a firearm and tried to rob the store. They decided to fight back. You can watch videos from the encounter later in this article.
The incident – which left people hailing the pair as heroes – took place in Prince George’s County.
According to ABC 7 (WJLA-TV), which broke the story, the father and the son work for a local public works department and are regulars at the store. On July 30, 2019, a robber got more than he bargained for when he picked that moment to stage a heist.
In the first video, which you can watch below, you see the robber approach the store’s counter and brandish a firearm after the hapless robber first briefly drops it on the floor. One of the heroes, the son, who was standing at the counter checking out, then reaches for the robber’s gun and grabs at it, as the robber holds the weapon. The struggle then moves off camera.
What happened next is just as dramatic. The video shows: The father and son followed the robber outside, and the son continued the tussle for the gun. The struggle was exceptionally dangerous as you can see the robber still holding the firearm as he scraps with the hero on the sidewalk. Eventually, the robber frees himself and runs off. You can watch that video here:
Although the son is the one who physically fought back, ABC 7 reported that the father also performed heroism. He spotted the robber changing clothes in an alley a few minutes later, “alerted police and the arrest was made,” the television station reported. It did not name the two heroes or the robber.
There has been a recent and growing pattern of people fighting back in active shooter incidents as well. You can read a roundup of people who fought back against other gunmen here. They include people who gave their lives by confronting gunmen in mass shooter incidents, and others who survived. What they share in common with the Maryland incident, though, is people who decided to confront danger in order to protect others, not to run. They include Kendrick Castillo, who gave his life confronting a shooter at Highlands Ranch STEM school, and Riley Howell, who gave his life while tackling a gunman who opened fire in Howell’s University of North Carolina-Charlotte classroom. There were also heroes in recent synagogue, mosque and other school shootings as well.