On Friday, a hero stepped out of the shadows and confronted the raging suspect after he shot his way into the Turnberry Towers condominium. The attacker wore a helmet and sported a semiautomatic rifle along with other weapons.
Video evidence clearly showed him blasting through lobby windows before entering and firing at the front desk.
According to a condominium resident, it was an employee who put down the alleged attacker.
Police, who described it as an “isolated incident,” were called to the complex near the north end of the Las Vegas Strip at around 3 p.m. on Friday.
On arrival, they found two people involved in the situation, including one who suffered from a gunshot wound. The unidentified suspected attacker was transported to a local hospital where at last report, he remained in critical condition.
Witnesses reported on social media that over 20 police vehicles surrounded the area and officers descended on the building with rifles. One Twitter user, Brianna Dymond, provided more details.
“It was a resident. Unprovoked, never had issues with anyone here, just went to his car, grabbed an AK, and came back in and shot the front lobby up. Homberto, who works in receiving, is a hero.”
Dymond added that “he shot the armed man and saved so many lives. Nobody was injured other than the shooter.”
One resident of Turnberry Towers, Benjamin Teal, told local media that the building’s valet likely saved his life. As he pulled up to the entrance, the employee approached him and warned him of the impending danger.
“My valet comes out waving his arms saying, ‘There is a guy with a gun, turn around and go the other way,’ and we go down to the basement to the first level where the valet parking is and then we heard about six to seven or eight gunshots.”
Teal described the sound for reporters. “It was pretty distinguishable to be a gunshot.”
These violent incidents rarely ever occur when police officers are nearby.
The presence of armed law enforcement has the understandable effect of deterring violent criminals from acting when they know there will likely be an immediate and forceful reaction.
Therefore, they tend to “lose their cool” when police are elsewhere. No one blames the officers — it is impossible to be all places at once — that’s just the nature of crime fighting.
As for the criminal, now they count on an unarmed and compliant citizenry. The last thing they expect to face is a man or woman with a firearm who is unafraid to act to protect their lives and the lives of others. But as so many recent instances prove, that’s exactly what they encounter.
As for Homberto, the hero described by the social media user, it will never be known how many lives he saved by being armed that day. How this act will affect his personal life has yet to be determined.
He reportedly works in the building’s mailroom, and it would be a serious injustice if he were to lose his job for being armed. That, however, would be the reaction of many misguided companies in 2023.
The people who would have been victims of the violent shooter will never know for certain if it was their life he saved. But there are many who should express their gratitude that an armed citizen stood up to a terrifying gunman and prevented a situation Las Vegas is unfortunately familiar with.
