The NZ Herald reports that an armed man fired in self-defense against the New Zealand terrorist who had targeted a pair of mosques, killing dozens of worshippers.
The man’s shots sent the gunman fleeing from the scene of the second mosque in the Linwood area of Christchurch.
The story indicates that the ‘good guy with a gun’ was “a well known Muslim local.” He reportedly “returned fire with a rifle or shotgun” after hearing “multiple gunshots” go off.
According to the Herald, he “chased the shooters and fired two shots at them as they sped off,” later telling police officers that he had fired his own weapon at the attackers in “self-defense.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that at least 49 people have been killed at the two mosques, while another 48 people have been injured. 41 people were killed at the Al Noor Mosque, 7 were killed at Linwood, and another after being transported to a hospital.
BREAKING: The New Zealand Herald reports that the shooting at the second mosque was stopped by an armed Muslim who “chased the shooters and fired two shots at them as they sped off.” pic.twitter.com/BA2FzsXq2d
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 15, 2019
The gunman’s manifesto indicated that he would attack a third mosque in the town of Ashburton.
The armed local may have prevented further carnage at Linwood and may have even forced the terrorist to think twice about stalking the third mosque after being confronted.
Ocasio-Cortez Attacks the NRA
The ‘good guy with a gun’ scenario seems especially important considering Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez launched a verbal attack on the NRA even as details of the New Zealand terror attack were being fleshed out.
She first mocked those who offered condolences through religion by asking, “What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?”
It was a disgusting comment which she later tried to walk back by saying it was directed at the NRA.
(“Thoughts and prayers” is reference to the NRA’s phrase used to deflect conversation away from policy change during tragedies. Not directed to PM Ardern, who I greatly admire.)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 15, 2019
As if that somehow made things better.
The Herald report seems to indicate that an organization such as the NRA may have been beneficial to the victims of the attack in New Zealand.
Sutherland Springs
This terrible story is reminiscent of an attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in 2017.
There, 26 people were murdered in a mass shooting before Stephen Willeford, a neighbor and former NRA instructor, ran out of his house barefoot after hearing what was happening, stopping the gunman with an AR-15 of his own.
“He had an AR-15, but so did I,” Willeford said. “It’s not the gun, it’s the heart; it’s a matter of the heart. I’m not the bravest man in the world or anything, but I was here, I was here and I could do something. And I had to do something.”
Had it not been for Willeford, the body count at the Sutherland Springs church could have been a lot higher. Perhaps the same can be said for this unnamed Muslim man at Linwood.
