By: Teresa Mull
Two brave men, one of whom used a gun, are being credited with saving the lives of countless people who did not become victims of a mass shooting thanks to the men’s heroic actions.
Oscar Stewart, 51, an Iraq war veteran, and Jonathan Morales, an off-duty Border Patrol agent, sprang into action after 19-year-old John T. Earnest began firing on the Congregation Chabad in Poway, California last Saturday.
Earnest killed one person and injured three others. Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, lost her life protecting the synagogue’s rabbi from gunfire.
Stewart recounted in an interview:
“I heard gunshots. And everybody got up and started trying to get out the back door, so I – for whatever reason – I didn’t do that. I ran the other way. I ran towards the gunshots.
“I knew I had to be within five feet of this guy so his rifle couldn’t get to me. So, I ran immediately toward him, and I yelled as loud as I could. And he was scared. I scared the hell out of him.”
Stewart said the shooter locked himself in his car. Fox News reports Stewart was pounding on the car door when Morales joined him.
“[Morales] shot several bullets at the vehicle, intending to disable it,” Fox reports. “Earnest was able to escape, but Stewart and Morales took down the license plate number. Earnest was arrested a short time later, and faces charges of murder and attempted murder.”
Reuters reports:
The rabbi wounded in Saturday’s deadly shooting at his Southern California synagogue praised an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent who fired at the fleeing suspect.
“I had spoken to him in the past about coming to the synagogue armed because he’s trained, and I want trained security as much as possible,” Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein told CNN, speaking from a local hospital. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to have an armed security officer at every service, so whenever we had extra help, we were grateful for it.”
“While Mr. Stewart was near the vehicle, (the) off-duty Border Patrol Agent caught up to the vehicle and yelled for Mr. Stewart to get out of the way,” San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said in a statement. “Stewart risked his life to stop the shooter and saved lives in the process.”
Stewart told reporters Lori Gilbert Kaye is the real hero for saving the rabbi’s life.
Gun Control Failed
Breitbart reports that California has "every gun law the Democrats are pushing on the federal level,” including:
universal background checks
firearm registration requirements
Red Flag gun confiscation laws
a 10-day waiting period for all gun purchases
a one-handgun-a-month purchase limit
a minimum age of 21 for all gun purchases
concealed carry permit restraints
a ban on Campus Carry
a ban on K-12 teachers carrying firearms
a so-called ‘assault weapons’ ban
… “but none of it prevented 19-year-old John Earnest from allegedly opening fire in Congregation Chabad in Poway.”
Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].