Security guards spend their lives ensuring the safety of others, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less likely to be targeted by criminals themselves. Fortunately, with a background in defensive training and a firearm at the ready, each of these security guards were able to prevail over their attackers.
It's a story not even anti-gun media outlets could ignore. Matthew Murray allegedly wrote online, "All I want to do is kill and injure as many [Christians] … as I can." Police say he made good on his word, first by killing two young students at a missionary training center outside Denver. His next target was a gathering of 7,000 people in and around the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. With a rifle and a backpack full of ammunition, Murray entered the church and opened fire. Sadly, two sisters were killed. One man yelled to distract the gunman and was shot in the arm. That's when volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam, who has a concealed-carry permit and once worked in law enforcement, yelled, "Surrender!" Armed with a handgun, she walked toward Murray and shot him several times. "It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," Assam recalls. His twisted plan foiled, the immobilized gunman killed himself. (Associated Press, 12/11/2007)
Sean Green was walking in downtown Atlanta when a man, allegedly armed with a knife and intent on committing a mugging, confronted him. The off-duty security guard ran for his life, but was cornered by his attacker at the entrance to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper office. The incident, recounted in the following day's edition, ended when Green shot the would-be robber once in the leg. Green had the guard at the newspaper's lobby call police who soon arrested his attacker. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, Ga., 1/30/2000)
Everything was going as planned for four men who had just ambushed a Wells Fargo truck as it made a pick-up at a clothing store. The truck's two guards were under the gun and helpless to fight back when the owner of the store and a security guard stormed from the business, firing shots at the bandits. The counter-assault created a diversion that allowed the Wells Fargo guards a chance to unholster their arms. In the ensuing gunfight, the perpetrators dropped the money and fled. No one was injured. (The Herald, Miami, Fla., 9/12/1995)
Oakland, Calif., resident Ella Brooks was taking the bus to her job as a security guard in San Francisco when another passenger, who had refused to pay his fare, pulled a knife and held it to the throat of an innocent bystander, threatening to kill him. Brooks brandished her .45 and ordered the crazed criminal to drop his weapon. He did not. Says Brooks, "... he was so close to the other man that for a while I couldn't do nothing. Then he moved his head three or four inches to the right. That's when I shot him." Police officials said the incident appeared to be justifiable homicide. (The Examiner, San Francisco, Calif., 8/7/1994)
Mary Lee and Samuel Carleton had just pulled up to their Terrytown, La., home when a man pointed a gun at Sam and demanded money. What the robber didn't know is that Mary Lee is a security guard and retired police officer. She fired a single shot from her own pistol, putting the crook and an accomplice to flight. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La., 2/5/1992)
Off-duty security guard Lindell Helton of Indianapolis, Ind., was eating at a restaurant when a knife-wielding robber ordered employees to lie on the floor. When the man moved toward Helton, the guard drew his licensed revolver and fired twice, killing the robber. The county prosecutor said it was not significant that Helton is licensed to carry a gun, stating that, "If a person commits a robbery and is using a deadly weapon, then citizens are entitled to use force, including deadly force, to try and stop it." (The Star, Indianapolis, Ind., 12/11/1987)
Conoga Park, Calif., security officer Blaine Blackstone waited for his chance when a masked man brandishing a revolver entered a restaurant and began robbing the patrons. When the thief raised his gun at a woman, Blackstone drew his revolver and fired five shots, wounding him fatally. Blackstone, an off-duty policeman, later learned the criminal was on parole for robbery and wanted on burglary charges. (The Times, Los Angeles, Calif., 11/25/1984)
Private security officer Ada Townsel of Buffalo, N.Y., was getting ready for work when she heard someone breaking in through her back door. She got her .357 Mag. and cornered a man in the dining room. When he ignored her order to freeze, Townsel fired a warning shot which sent him sprinting for the back door and a second intruder diving through a picture window. (The News, Buffalo, N.Y., 4/25/84)
While off duty, U.S. Navy Seaman Thomas J. Hudson, 21, a security guard at the Navy amphibious base at Coronado, Calif., looked out of his apartment window and saw a man crouched at a neighbor's apartment window. He notified police, then got a shotgun and held the prowler until the police arrived. San Diego police gave him a citation, saying "Quite often we find people are reluctant to enter into police cases for fear of becoming involved. You are to be commended for the prompt and courageous action you took.” (Navy Times, Calif., 9/1/1968)
