The quick thinking of two Aiken County, S.C., firefighters may have prevented a massacre Tuesday evening.
Thirty-one-year-old Chad Barker, who investigators later described as “grossly intoxicated,” drove into a New Holland Fire Department parking lot full of children and firefighters at about 6:30. He exited his vehicle, then fired several shots at it and into the air. After he aimed his gun at several firefighters, however, two of them—both concealed-carry permit holders—pulled out their own guns. The two forced him back to his car with the help of several other firefighters and convinced him to put down the gun.
Though the men were able to restrain him without a struggle, Barker proceeded to bang his head on the ground until deputies arrived to arrest him. He was treated for self-inflicted lacerations at a local hospital and has been charged with two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm.
