Man shoots threat with Byrna kinetic projectile to protect family

Lorne has always been a protector at heart. So, when he was faced with a decision to defend his loved ones, he didn’t think twice.

The incident began Tuesday when his sister was arriving at work. Lorne said she had been working at the same building for 30 years but recently there has been an uptick in security issues partially due to the rising homeless population.

Lorne said there is an underground parking structure, but homeless people continue to damage the security gate and access the structure.

“She pulled in there to park and when she went to go back in her spot, she noticed somebody laying there,” he said. His sister thought the man could have been dead.

A colleague called the police, but officers never arrived. She moved her car to another spot and when she exited her vehicle, she noticed another man standing nearby, so she told them, it was private property, and they should leave.

“At that moment, the man on the ground jumped up so fast and was on her like right up in her face inches from her face in a second. The other guy came up on her side. A guy was screaming in her face, various obscenities, calling her many different names saying he was going to hurt her,” Lorne said. When one of the men briefly backed away, she ran to her office. 

The next day, Lorne said he was in the area and went to the parking structure. By trade, he is a general contractor, so he filmed the area of the broken gate and surveyed broken fixtures, cameras, and other items. He said the security gate, which provides access to the parking structure, was deemed unusable, so they needed to open a locked gate from another entrance.

His sister was afraid to go to the building herself and open the gate, so her brother and husband went with her. On their way to the building, his sister received a call from the security company that the alarm had been triggered. She informed them they were a few minutes away and the security company dispatched the police. Lorne said they arrived at the same time as officers.

Police officers cleared the area and left Lorne, his sister, and her husband at the property. Lorne said he wanted to take a few minutes to gather additional notes of items to be fixed because he could see what lights were out in the evening. He also asked his sister where the two men were located that attacked her and she pointed to an elevator service room, which she said was locked. Upon further inspection, he realized the lock could easily be opened and all he had to do was move a pocketknife through and it would open.

“I took my knife out. I said I'm going to check it and I stuck my knife in there and I pop the lock. I open the door and when I open the door it was pitch black. There he was 6’2”- 285. And he came flying at me,” he said. “So, I instantly just threw my shoulder into the door. And he tried to get out the door. And it's, I mean I could literally, our faces almost touched hitting the door with him. So, I took a couple of cracks at him. He went backward into the room. I got the door shut.”

Lorne yelled for his brother-in-law, who sprinted towards him.

“In that moment, it seems like it took James (Lorne’s brother-in-law) forever to get there. But he said I was there in three seconds, he goes, I was there are three seconds, man as fast as I can move across 50 feet. I was there. But in that moment, man, time stands still.”

The two men held the door closed as the man on the other side tried to get out. Lorne said the man continued to hit the door as they tried to hold it shut but with his strength, he was able to open the door about “four to six inches.”

“He was a caged animal he wanted out of that room. He wanted out. So, then he turned the lights on. It wasn't in the dark. Hit the door a couple more times. I told him I was going to shoot him. He said he was going to kill me. Then suddenly, the fire extinguisher shouldn't shoot through the door. And he started shooting the side of it and he started shooting the bottom of it.”

Lorne said the man continued to shoot the fire extinguisher propellant at them. The man yelled profanities and violently hit the door. Lorne warned he would “shoot” him. 

He said he honestly thought he could handle the man’s strength with his brother-in-law until police arrived, but he realized they couldn’t.

Lorne said the man hit the door again and it swung open and at that point, he fired his Byrna.

“It hit him right cheek and just peeled his cheek back. He let out a scream. Oh god, I can't believe you shot me. You shot me. I can't believe you shot me. So just stay there. The police are coming. He started crying or whining. Let me out. I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding. Please let me out. I looked at James and James was like no. And I said no, I'm not. I cannot let you out. You're going to be alright.”

Lorne said the interaction took place in a matter of minutes, and from the time 9-1-1 was called and police officers arrived, 16 minutes went by.

“And 16 minutes later, the cops came. I put James on the door. I stepped back I was covered with powder. I put my hands up to the side. I took the Byrna. I set it on the ground. The police were coming up there were a dozen of them. I pointed at it. I said I've got a Byrna HD kinetic gun and it shoots a solid round. It's non-lethal. And I shot him in the face,” he said.

Police took the man into custody, provided medical care, and continued their investigation into what happened which uncovered how the man got access to the elevator service room.

“I've been in a lot of fistfights, my life, James and I, I'm truly thankful that I had that Byrna. And police said that” he said as his voice cracked with emotion. “Police said they're thankful that you had it. They said thank God, you had it. If you didn't have it, we might be having a different conversation.”

Lorne said he was terrified of what the man could do to him, and his family. He had a lethal firearm as well, but he is thankful he had the Byrna as an option. 

“Hopefully I never have to shoot anybody ever again, he said. It's a piece of safety. You know, our natural reaction is to do whatever we do to try to compromise. And I did I compromise with the guy I tried. I told him what I was going to do. And he didn't believe me. And we tried to subdue him and hold him in that room. But he wasn't having it. But when I just shot him that one time, with just with the kinetic round the hard round, it stopped him. It stopped him dead. He didn't try to open that door. He didn't try to shoot me with that fire extinguisher anymore. He just sat there.”

Lorne said not only does he trust his Byrna to protect himself and his family, but he uses it as a church security guard too.

“I guess you could say if somebody is going to get hurt, it's going to be me. It's not going to be my family. It's not going to be you if I'm with you. It's not going to be anybody in this church setting in this room and whatever. I'm the guy that goes right at church they call me the pastor's guard dog.”

He trusts his Byrna every step of the way.

“Nobody wants to shoot anybody. But with this thing, you can go home and feel better that you didn't kill somebody. I shot somebody, but I didn't kill him. You know, I guess that's probably the best way it is. You know? Anybody can say they could shoot somebody. When you really inflict that much you kill so you take somebody's life. You're living without the rest of your life. It's not something easy to live with.” 

Self Defense Has A New Hero. 

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