Watch: Off-Duty Cop Drops Thug in Costco, Stops America's Next Mass Killing
We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep on saying it: A good guy with a gun is the best way to counter a bad guy with a gun.
Capt. Michael Howell of the Kansas City (Kansas) Police Department proved that yet again when he dropped a thug in a Costco who could have been America’s next mass shooter.
The incident happened last month but the video was just released last week, according to the Kansas City Star. It shows how Howell managed to kill Ronald O. Hunt.
It happened on Nov. 26 in a Costco in Lenexa, Kansas. According to Howell, he was in the store when he heard Hunt say, “I’m an off-duty U.S. Marshal, I’m here to kill people.”
“I knew that there was a threat that had to be stopped,” Howell said during a Friday news conference.
As Hunt moved through the aisles in what was described as a methodical fashion, Howell tracked the potential killer and then surprised him with his weapon.
“’Police, drop the gun. Don’t move,’” Howell recalls commanding Hunt.
After Howell repeated his command, Hunt turned on the off-duty cop with his weapon.
“That is when I fired at him,” Howell said. “And he went down.”
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said that Howell “acted with extreme courage, and saved an unknown amount of innocent lives” and that he wouldn’t face charges over the shooting.
Howell said he just did what had to be done.
“My greatest fear was we had kids with their moms, with their grandmas, with their dads,” Howell said.
“It was little kids running and screaming. And seeing the fear in their faces and knowing whatever it took, I had to do whatever necessary to end this threat so they wouldn’t get hurt.”
Thankfully, as Hunt went through the store with a pistol and a shopping cart, most of the customers fled out the emergency exit.
Meanwhile, Howell should really never have been in the store that day. He had originally planned to go to the Kansas City Chiefs game, but decided to stay at home and get some rest, instead. He had gone to Costco to get an electric fireplace.
As for claims that he was a hero, Howell downplayed the idea.
“I’m just a cop doing my job,” Howell said.
Of course, you won’t hear much in the mainstream media about this off-duty cop doing his job, and how he managed to stop a potential mass murderer before the wannabe killer could injure a single person. That’s because the idea of a good guy with a gun trumping a bad guy with a gun is anathema to the media’s narrative.
Nevertheless, we salute Capt. Michael Howell. His quick thinking and bravery saved lives.
That makes him a hero — and one more Americans should know about.
H/T Independent Journal Review
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