On Monday, a man armed with an AR-15 rifle intervened in an argument where someone had been stabbed, forcing the assailant to flee and later be captured by police.
Dave Thomas was prompted by seeing someone with a knife stab another person at an apartment building on Harbor Drive in Oswego Township in Illinois. Thomas dashed to his home, thought about grabbing his handgun, but chose his AR-15, then returned to the apartment and ordered the assailant to stop. He recalled later:
I poked my head out the door. There was a pool of blood, blood was everywhere in the hall. There was still a confrontation going on, there were about three or four people involved at this point. So I ran back into my house and grabbed my AR-15. I grabbed the AR-15 over my handgun — bigger gun, I think a little bit more of an intimidation factor. Definitely played a part in him actually stopping.
The assailant was only free for a short time before he was apprehended; the stabbing victim was taken to the hospital. According to police, Thomas has a valid firearm owner’s identification card and a concealed carry permit.
Thomas added, “The AR-15 is my weapon of choice for home protection. It’s light, it’s maneuverable. If you train and know how to use it properly, it’s not dangerous. And this is just a perfect example of good guy with an AR-15 stopped a bad guy with a knife. And there were no lives taken, so all in all it was a good day.”