Just a few weeks ago we reported on an armed citizen in the southern Virginia town of Franklin who helped save a little girl who was being threatened by neighbor armed with a pair of knives. I don't know if there's something in the water in that part of the state, but now there's news of another incident involving a knife-wielding attacker and a gun-owning neighbor who was able to save a life; this time in nearby Virginia Beach. 

The incident in question happened back in January, but the local media is just now covering the actions of Erin Bennett and her boyfriend Alexander Seaver, who both acted swiftly when they saw a fight break out between two of their neighbors. 

The brutal attack happened last January at their apartment complex off Indian Road.

This couple watched their neighbor, John Molandes start fighting with the guy who lived below him.

The fight was all over a noise complaint but there had been months of tension at this condo near the Oceanfront.

“During the time that we were moving downstairs to get to them, he (Molandes) followed him (the victim) and stabbed him another two times,” said Seaver. 

They said the victim was staggering towards their house looking for help after he heard Bennett screaming.

The victim had multiple stab wounds to his body and they were able to grab some towels and pressure to stop the bleeding.

“We took a shirt off. The blood was wiped off, but it was immediately red again,” said Seaver.

Seaver also had his weapon pointed at Molandes to stop the attack.

“He didn’t try to move out of his doorway. He kept yelling about self-defense and everybody stayed where they were until the police came,” said Alexander Seaver.

Molandes spoke to WTKR from behind bars, where he's serving a two-year sentence after pleading guilty. While he still contends he was acting in self-defense that day, Seaver's actions may very well have spared him from facing a murder charge if he'd continued stabbing his neighbor. And based on Seaver and Bennett's description of the events, which included Molandes following his neighbor and stabbing him at least two additional times as he was trying to get away, I doubt that he would have been successful in claiming self-defense if he refused the plea deal and took his chances at trial. 

As was the case in the more recent knife-involved incident where Terrel Majette drew down on a man armed with two knives in Franklin, Virginia, Seaver didn't have to pull the trigger of his gun in order to stop the situation from escalating; something for which the armed citizen is grateful. 

“I didn’t know that human beings could be that callous towards each other,” said Erin Bennett.

“I had to point a gun at somebody that’s something I wouldn’t wish anybody to do,” said Alexander Seaver. 

But he is grateful he didn’t have to pull the trigger.

“Even though I didn’t do that, it still weighs on me that it could’ve been an outcome,” said Seaver.

They encourage others to do the right thing, and come forward, and are glad everyone survived this situation.

“I was just happy I was there to help him,” said Alexander Seaver.

Even if we own firearms for self-defense, train regularly on how to use them, and are prepared to use lethal force to protect ourselves and others, the gun owners I know would much prefer never to have to take another life. A defensive gun use where the trigger isn't pulled is a much better outcome, and in this case the neighbor's life was saved without Molandes losing his own. I'm happy for Seaver that he wasn't forced to shoot to stop the attack on his neighbor, and it's great to see Bennett and Seaver's heroism acknowledged and even praised by local media in Virginia Beach.