Firefighters With CCW Stop A Massacre
Firefighters said they may have stopped a massacre after a gunman surprised them at their station Tuesday.The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the New Holland Fire Department’s Station 2 around 6:30 p.m. for a report of shots fired reported WISTV.
Firefighters said Chad Barker pulled up to the crowded fire station parking lot full of children and firefighters, got out of his car, and began firing in the air and at his vehicle. They say he also pointed the firearm at individual firefighters for lengthy periods of time.
“I came out of the office, saw the man with the gun, told everybody to leave out the back quickly that there was a man in the parking lot with a gun, and I was not kidding,” said Gary Knoll, a firefighter for New Holland.
Knoll said Barker returned to his vehicle and firefighters carefully followed him with their weapons still drawn. After encouraging Barker to put the gun down, Knoll said Barker ultimately complied and Knoll grabbed the gun.
He said the group of firefighters detained Barker, who then began beating his head on the ground, until deputies arrived and locked him up. Barker has been charged with two counts of Pointing and Presenting a Firearm.
Firefighters are trained to respond to any given situation-whether it be battling an inferno or a lone gunman. They are in this job field to react quickly and effectively, every time. Garry Knoll reacted without one shred of hesitation, drawing his concealed carry and subduing the lunatic in a powerful act of self defense and protection for those within the vicinity.
He and the other concealed carry firefighter saved lives, and they should be proud of their actions.
People like Chad Barker have no grasp on reality, nothing to lose. It takes a strong individual to counter the crazy. There’s no telling what the lone gunman was capable of, but the tables turned for the better when both firefighters drew their own firearms to subdue the culprit. Two sane men with concealed carries almost always cancels out one kook with a gun.
What’s more, it’s nice to read that the criminal proceeded to beat his own head into the ground once the firemen subdued him. Let’s just say if I were involved in this altercation, I wouldn’t have stopped him. Maybe the act of slamming bits of gravel into his own forehead knocked some sense into him. What a happy ending of something that could have been much worse.
He reviewed his surroundings, recognized the potential threat, and reacted accordingly. This, my Defend and Carry friends, is situational awareness at its finest.
