While most recent police related shootings are met with anger and finger pointing of racism, the shooting that resulted in the death of a man who was assaulting a deputy is one for celebration of the man who stepped in and put an end to it.
An unidentified man who witnessed an assailant attacking a deputy on I-75 on Monday did something no one else had done – he stopped. When he saw Edward Strother brutally assaulting Deputy Dean Bardes, the bystander attempted to make the man stop, when he didn’t comply, the bystander shot him three times.
After hearing of the incident, Shoot Straight, a gun dealer and firing range in Fort Myers, Florida, wanted to give the man a replacement gun. After visiting the store, the man ended up taking a Springfield XDS which cost $500.
“We reached out to the Lee County Sheriff,” said Mark Williams, manager of the Fort Myers Shoot Straight. “He had to impound the gun for evidence. We wanted to donate a gun so this man’s not unarmed.”
The man, who has his concealed carry permit, came up clean on a background check and wants to remain anonymous.
“He’s a super nice guy,” said Williams. “He doesn’t want any attention.”
“The sheriff is calling him a hero. If they were comfortable with him getting a gun, I was completely comfortable with giving him a gun.”
There are very few people who would ever step in to such a situation willingly, so that makes this situation that much more worthy of praise.
“In a day and age where race is a near-instant focus for media and other pundits in police incidents, the fact is that this hero happens to be a man of color who stopped another man of color from further harming or killing a white cop; thereby reminding us that black lives matter, blue lives matter, and indeed all life matters. We at your Sheriff’s Office remain proud to serve and focused on the mission.”
