U.S. Army Veteran helps security guard apprehend suspect with a Byrna
Paul, an Army Veteran who was the victim of a car break-in, used his Byrna to help a security guard apprehend a suspect. Part of the incident was captured on camera.
He said his neighborhood has seen an uptick in crime and not only was his car broken into, but his business was robbed. So, when he heard the commotion as he was coming home, he decided to step in.
Paul said he was walking home at about midnight when he heard a raucous down the street. He admits, he doesn’t “like jumping in people’s business,” so he continued to his unit where he opened the balcony.
“I can still hear this raucous. It’s louder now, but now, I hear a car going off and I’m like, dude, my car just got broken into, you know, screw this, you know, grabbed my EDC [the Byrna launcher] and ran out,” he said.
Once he approached the garage, he saw a man exiting with a metal road sign and a female security guard nearby.
Paul said she had a small can of pepper spray but couldn’t get close enough to the suspect to deploy it. The suspect was smashing cars and vandalized a restaurant’s outdoor dining area.
“Then, he starts coming at me with this barrier, and so, I immediately draw on him put a tac light up,” he said. Once the suspect complied with his order to stop, he holstered his Byrna but said the suspect took off. Eventually, his neighbors also came downstairs, and they cornered the suspect until police arrived.
“This whole thing went on for like 46 minutes,” he said as he described the time until police responded to the incident.
Paul said he is glad he didn’t have to shoot his Byrna, and the “look” of the launcher was enough to stop the suspect.
“He definitely thought it was a gun. He was like, ‘don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me,” Paul said.
Paul said he credits his training in the Army and deployments for his ability to help the security guard. He wouldn’t recommend anyone following his actions.
“I would not recommend like running down six flights of stairs to go ...I heard like glass and that girl’s scream and I’m like dude, this can’t, this isn’t okay,” he said.
He does believe everyone should have the ability to defend themselves and recommends the Byrna and plenty of training.
“Train on that [the Byrna] on the weekends. Carry it on you after dark, or just in situations where you’re by yourself or defenseless, or just always have it on you and don’t be afraid to pull the trigger [of the Byrna],” he said.
“That’s the biggest thing we teach anybody in the military is the confidence to carry the weapon.”