It's hard to believe, but the tragedy in Tucson might have been much worse if it had not been for some people who demonstrated bravery in the face of extreme danger.
One of those heroes was retired Army Col. Bill Badger. While shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner tried to reload his 9mm Glock with a magazine containing another 33 bullets, the 74-year-old forced the gunman to the ground.
"Never in my life would I have thought that I would have to take action like that, you know, in a strip mall, parking lot, or in front of a Safeway grocery store," Badger said on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. "It was just a reaction."
A bullet grazed the side of Badger's head and he hit the ground. "I stayed down as he was firing his gun — just bang, bang, bang, bang, " described Badger. "When he stopped shooting, I stood up. When I stood up, I didn't realize it, but he was walking by right in front of me, going from my right to my left."
Another bystander hit the alleged killer over the head with a folding chair, which gave Badger the opening to "take him down."
Then, Badger explained, "his left arm came out a little bit away from his side and he had his gun in his right hand. It gave me the opportunity to just grab his left arm. I grabbed it right by the wrist and took my right hand and hit him right in the top — in the center of his back, up high, and forced him right to the ground."
Loughner is being accused of attempting to assassinate Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition, and killing six others, including a federal judge. He made his first appearance in court yesterday.
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This gentleman is a true hero, even if he does not think of himself as one. His calmness and rational thinking helped save many more lives. He is humble about accepting praise and that is in stark contrast to the shooter who was perhaps looking for fame - in all the wrong ways.
However, I have to wonder , what in the world was up with the young man who was interviewed later stating he knew Loughner? I do hate to seem judgemental, but that pink hair with the fluffy purple stuff in the back threw me off and I could not take one word of his seriously . Was it a wig perhaps ? I don't know - but between the long pink hair and the dark beard I have to wonder now about some of Tucson's young people...
Yes he is I guess that "ex-military wacko training" did some good.
I agree with your comments regarding this gentleman...he is a true hero. Please though, don't make judgements regarding citizens of Tucson. I am a Tucson native and moved from there 3 years ago for my job. Just because the interviewee may have had "long pink hair and the dark beard" does not make all the "young people" of Tucson odd. You could extrapolate this description of any young person in any city around the country. It is a true, tragic shame that this happened in Tucson, but that does not mean you should judge the young citizens of Tucson.
Debora, agreed!,... especially your comments about the brave Col. Bill Badger being a true hero!!! I think part of the definition of a "True Hero," is they are humble about it!
Regarding your comments about the interviewee's pink hair,...this was only half true b/c today I saw a different angle of the pink haired one, indeed it is purple in the back! This should be a lesson to us all, to not judge until we have all the information! Lol!
Regarding the fad of dyed pink, purple, green or whatever colored hair,...though not ubiquitous in America,...is still common enough to know this is nothing new!
Frankly, truth be told, I was so distracted by his hair I couldn't take him seriously either, therefore, I didn't listen to him b/c I couldn't stop my mind from drifting and wondering what other wacko loon's this guy Jared Lee Laughner had as friends?!
Yes, " distraction " is a very good word for it and one I should have used. I have seen many many young people with all shades of colored hair and it does not faze me really. I lived in Florida for many many years and almost all young ones had varying degrees of violently colored hair. I've recently moved to North Carolina and it is here too.
I do apologize for " labeling " Tucson's young people, I did not mean to do that. It was just hard for me to concentrate on what this man was speaking about due to wondering more if he had a wig on or if it was indeed his own hair ! Yes, distracting is a good word. I kept waiting for him to acknowledge how Loughner made fun of a young girl in that same poetry class who wrote about how having an abortion devastated her and called her a " terrorist ". Yet instead, he went on to praise Loughners poetry. It gave me pause.
Just an incredulous set of events. God bless these people that intervened.
I noticed that the2 individuals that took down the armed "nuts"were not themselves armed. This guy shoot thirty+ shots and nobody shoot back...THANK GOD!... It seems to me that the industry fostering our gun laws and constant wars has to work a lot harder to takes to that level when we all can kill each other.
One of the two bystanders who jumped on this guy, Joe Zamudio, was armed and did not pull his weapon. He said he did not want to be mistaken as a second shooter. It was a conscious and rational decision on his part. It goes to show you that not everyone who packs heat is a wild-eyed crazed maniac.
"I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready," he explained on Fox and Friends. "I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this." Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. "And that's who I at first thought was the shooter," Zamudio recalled. "I told him to 'Drop it, drop it!'"
But the man with the gun wasn't the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter. "Had you shot that guy, it would have been a big, fat mess," the interviewer pointed out.
Zamudio agreed:
"I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds. Two, maybe three seconds between when I came through the doorway and when I was laying on top of [the real shooter], holding him down. So, I mean, in that short amount of time I made a lot of really big decisions really fast. … I was really lucky."
For those who think the answer is for everyone to arm themselves,...this guy was really lucky he didn't shoot the WRONG guy! Presumably, others could then easily confuse a "hero," with a second shooter,...then we have a shoot out in Safeway's parking lot between two, or more good guys!
The training that law enforcement go through is little more than a series of what ifs. The day that you start packing is the day that you better be practicing what ifs because in a confrontation there is no time to sort it out. Police say counter the threat with a higher order of threat. Don't hesitate just do it. Nineteen times out of twenty the police get there after the mayhem.
You are mistaken, justlou. One of the people who took down the shooter was armed. He chose not to draw his weapon because he did not see it as necessary to subdue the shooter.
It's heartbreaking for a father as I am to read the despicable articles people have written about the family. who are YOU to judge this grieving family at this critical time in their lives. And then to use this as another grandstand to blame an inert object of a crime... aren't we more informed in our society, and is it so hard to grieve with ALL the people who are personally affected by this tragedy! It's NOT the guns fault, it's OUR fault for desensitizing our society... where blood guts and gore, and death are considered ENTERTAINMENT... sadly enough the entertaining factor is too often a reality in OUR AMERICA... We grieve, and pray for those who suffer, and WORK towards a BETTER tomorrow... one person at a time.
Bickering over details is not the issue here. Lets stick with the TRAGEDY that took the lives and wounded others. Those set of horrific events started as a painful ordeal physically and emotionally for the victims and than if one has the human compassion that should be within us all than it became a wave of pain and sadness for any and all peoples the world over. I am a Native American (Tohono O'odham) from southern Arizona and lived in Tucson for 12 years for school and eventuallly a job but it's a "strong" diverse community and it's now being evident in the outpouring of that COMPASSION... ONE LOVE
This is a sad story turned ugly by those trying to make political hay like the Sheriff there. Meanwhile, it's great we have some from a better generation that helped take down the killer. Where was the Sheriff when this public meeting was occurring? No security for a member of congress. It seems strange to me.
Michael Lockwood, Your a moron. "Ex military whacko training?" you a**hole. It's ex military guys like him and me and millions of others who have seved this country and kept it safe for a**holes like you to run there ignorant mouth. You f**ken punk. How about respect for those people. The whacko is you, say that to a vet some day and I hope he beats your ass. Your probably a coward who could not make it in the military.
Patriotic American
Did you just stick your head up your 4th point of contact recently or is it a permanent fixture there? The comment was sarcastic (note the quotation marks around the phrase).
If you go back to the day of the shootings and look at the posts coming from the left you will see so many of those posts claiming tthe shooter must be an ex military right winged whacko or he had to be a tea partiest. Even the Sheriff came out and was making this look that way.
I happen to be one of those "ex military whakos". I don't have to try to hide behind a moniker to try to show what I have done for my country or that I love this land.
So before you go running your ignorant mouth Un patriotic Un American maybe you will read into a phrase or ask a question before you call someone names. You were probably one of those spouting off about one side or the other before any facts were learned about the shooter or even what happened. Your ignorant azz was probably one of those believing NPR and the other stations when they said Giffords had been killed.
No; PA you just proved yourself as bad as the people on the first day screaming that it was a right winged ex military whacko that pulled the trigger in the first place.
Do everyone a big favor, pull your head out. The current position of your pumpkin is cutting off your oxygen supply and making you look like.....
The first thing I thought when hearing col. Badger speaking and observing his demeanor is that this gentleman is too meek and soft spoken to take down anyone. The lesson for me, I guess, is that old saw - never judge a book by it's cover.
His kind of heroism is spectacular. Hit in the head by a shot and not knowing how badly he's hurt he gets up and takes down the shooter!!! Anywhere I see him I'm standing at attention and saluting.
Thank God for good people. This shows that there are lots of caring people around. sacrificing his safety to tackle the killer is great and even being humble about it. God bless you retired Army Col. Bill Badger.
Dear PA 7097125 I suspect the'ex military wacho training' by ML was in quotes as a dig at the strange people wo don't believe we should have a military.
Privacy First
Exactly. Or to the comments made by Janet Napalitano about having to worry about the ex-military because we, in her mind, are potential terrorists. Or to all the left talk radio hosts and many on the Vine on the first day of the shooting that were so quick to scream that it was a right winged ex military whacko that pulled the trigger.
PA showed exactly what I was talking about. He quit licking the windows on the short bus long enough to jump on a post he didn't understand.
I was shocked at the number of posts, within an hour after the news came out about the shootings, that was claiming it was either a right winged whacko or a left winged whacko that did the shooting. Hardly anything about it being a deranged person; just a bunch of idiot Americans blaming a bunch of other Americans for the incident.
Such a sad event. Thank goodness someone intervened before he reloaded and wounded or killed more people. Our thoughts and prayers should be directed towards the victims and their families.
I am very sorry that this incident took place. My prayers are with the families of the victims as well as the families of the accused and indeed the community of Tuscon. It is at times like these that everyone need to come together and unite as not only those concerned are feeling the hurt but, the entire nation and of course nations around the world. Thanks and praise are given to God the Creator for even, in the face of impending danger He provided someone, in the person of retired Army Col Bill Wadger to be a saviour to prevent further death from occuring by wrestling the gunman to the ground and putting his life on the line unselfishly. He is a REAL Hero.
All those who tried in any way to stop this individual are heroes, so this thank you is to Col. Wadger and the others. It is evident by Col. Badger's interview that he is indeed a hero, a soldier, and a credit to this country which he served. Stop bashing the military. You live in a free country because of them. My heart goes out to all in the Touson community that must deal with this, and to the parents of this young troubled man.
I say HOOAH
Yes indeed, thank God for the Colonel and the other man, seems like we are missing two people though, the lady that grabbed the clip, and whoever whacked the dirty, rotten, s.o.b. over the head with a folding chair. I saw in the bastards mug shot he was scuffed up, not enough though, if I had been their, and knowing the death and mayhem the scumbag caused, I would have still been beating the crap out of him with my fists when the cops showed. Everynight when I go to sleep, I still see the little girls face that the filthy scum bag killed, then I think that it could have easily been one of my twin daughters, as I live 68 miles from Tucson.
Thank God for people like the lady who grabbed the clip, the guy with the folding chair, and Col. Badger. Thank God.
As an ex- MP hooraaw Mr Badger! However this is exactly why people like you and I need to carry weapons... when the drug dealers and emotionally disturbed people run around with a bazooka in their pocket, and we are forced to takle these heathens cave man style, it seems like the odds are in favor of the terrorist... yeah, I'm going to takle Osama and hold him for the police to drop their donuts, call out a couple of helicopters.... wait for back up from reservists... then ooops, there are alot more people dead. So sorry, I say lock and load and take back our streets! And our beloved country!