TAMPA, FLORIDA — A church maintenance worker wisely decided to bring his concealed carry handgun with him to investigate an intrusion into the church. When he arrived, a witness reported that a man had broken into the church but left before entering the building. When the maintenance worker investigated the scene, he worried the intruder may still be in the area. According to News Channel 8, he ended up finding the intruder hiding in the bushes.
The News Channel 8 team was actually on its way to reporting on a different story when a reporter saw a man holding another man at gun point outside the church. When they stopped to investigate, they learned that the man was a maintenance worker detaining a criminal until Tampa police could arrive.
via News Channel 8
“I saw the guy walk up the sidewalk and he saw me and took off running. So I ran down the sidewalk and when I got to the end of the sidewalk I didn’t see anyone,” the concealed carrier recounted for the news. “I look over in the bushes and he’s hiding. As soon as I hit the sidewalk over there, I took my weapon out just in case. I didn’t know where he was.”
When police arrived, they detained the intruder and the concealed carrier is not believed to be facing any charges due to the fact that he has a right to defend himself and the church property he’s tasked with maintaining. Just another fantastic example of Stand Your Ground working the right way.
The criminal was arrested and charged with a felony of Criminal Mischief. The doors to the church, which were damaged in the ensuing break-in, will need to be repaired to the tune of $4,000. That criminal better start saving his pennies and thanking his lucky stars he decided to stay put.
This is a great example of why we carry concealed every day. It’s not so much that the maintenance worker initially feared for his life when he was responding to the intrusion, but he had an inkling suspicion there was a criminal behind it and rightly so. Showing up unarmed to the situation could have left him open to more of a danger to himself and the church’s property.
Carry everyday and good job, concealed carrier.