Armed Passerby Shoots, Kills Suspect Attacking Deputy on Interstate

Raised Gun self-defense AP Photo/Seth Wenig
AP Photo/Seth Wenig

An armed passerby intervened in an attack on a sheriff’s deputy Monday, demanded the alleged attacker stop, then shot him dead when he refused to comply.

According to WZVN, the suspect accelerated when a Lee County sheriff’s deputy tried to pull him over shortly after 9:30 a.m. in Estero, Florida. The deputy gave chase, with the suspect “reaching speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.” At an off-ramp near Corkscrew Road, the suspect got out of his car, walked back to the deputy’s car, and began to beat him.

Witness Shanta Holditch said the suspect threw the deputy to the ground and “just kept beating him and beating him.”

An armed passerby intervened and ordered the suspect to stop, but he refused. The deputy was in trouble and could be heard yelling, “Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him.” The passerby fired three shots, and the suspect collapsed on top of the deputy.

A witness, Mr. Smith, said the deputy rolled out from under the suspect. He “got on his mic, then rolled over back on the ground besides the guy.” Smith added, “The guy that protected, shot the bad guy, was a guy that pulled over on the ramp and saw the guy beating the officer. He pulled out his gun.”

Fox News reported that the deputy, Dean Bardes, was treated at a hospital, then released.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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