He was wearing nothing but sneakers.
The attacker initially asked for water before forcing his way into the restaurant only to find himself unable to exit. The shop featured self-locking doors, and the now “enraged” man began destroying property before punching the woman in the chest.
All of this even though she was now holding a firearm.
The owner did not want to be identified by name. She told reporters later, “I was just afraid of his strength. I’m pointing at him asking him to calm down and stay away or get out of the store which the door was jammed and he had no way out, so therefore I was between a rock and a hard place, and I just did what I had to do.
What she had to do was defend herself and others present, including loved ones, and that’s exactly what she did.
The restaurant owner told police she fired one shot at the man when he charged her. That did not stop his attack, and he then picked up a chair to throw at her sister.
That was when she fired the second shot that put him on the ground.
The brave woman called it a scary sight. “I know that people are saying what they could’ve done, but until you’re in a situation, you never know what you will do, especially when the fear hits you. You never know what you’re going to do. He was a big guy, big enough to hurt me.”
It is probable that her worries over what other people are saying are misplaced. They are likely calling her a hero for protecting herself and her sister in the face of a violent attack that left her no choice.
The owner’s sister began livestreaming on Facebook after the shooting put the man on the floor. She described the situation that followed like being a lion in a cage, with him on the ground and the sister and brother locked inside the restaurant waiting on the police.
She explained she went on social media to let those close to her know what was happening. The fear was that they would be arrested and the rest of the family would need to know, though that fear was of course unfounded.
The police questioned the restaurant owner at the scene, but she is not facing charges.
She reacted with appropriate force to a violent situation in which an obviously deranged individual could have inflicted bodily harm on the family.
The sisters said they recognized the man from the neighborhood.
The restaurant owner tried to explain her emotions after the violent encounter. “I am not a monster. I would never hurt anybody purposefully. I just fear[ed] for my life and just did what I thought I was supposed to do. I didn’t want him to die or anything like that. I just didn’t wanna be the one my mom had to claim to identify.”
She gave the strong impression that she was worried about being misjudged after the incident, though that is hardly likely. No charges have been filed, and any reasonable observer sees that she and the others in the business were under attack and could be expected to defend themselves.
While there are some states that may have viewed her reaction differently, Tennessee is not one of them. It has a strong tradition of supporting Second Amendment rights and recognizing the fundamental freedom to defend oneself.
