Armed Citizens Hold Florida Woman for Police After Knife Threats at Dollar General Store

A Florida woman who's in this country illegally is now behind bars and facing criminal charges (as well as the potential for deportation) after several armed citizens were able to hold her for police after she threatened shoppers at a Dollar General with a knife. 

According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, 36-year-old Natalia Gaviria was already "heavily intoxicated" when she showed up at the Dollar General. Once inside the store she drew her knife and began threatening customers. Store employees called 911 and helped customers exit the building, but Judd says two armed citizens stayed behind with their guns drawn to make sure Gaviria didn't get away. Thankfully, the only injury was to a soda bottle that Gaviria stabbed with her knife. 

"Way to go Polk County," Judd said. "When we got there, you may say the caper was over."

Gaviria was taken into custody and charged with disorderly intoxication, theft of the stabbed soda bottle and two counts of assault. 

Sheriff Judd confirmed Gaviria is in the United States illegally from Colombia.

"Maybe you act that way in Colombia, but you don’t act that way in Florida and you sure don’t act that way in Polk County or we’ll pull our guns on you here," Judd said. "Congratulations citizens. You did what was right. You intervened when a violent felony was occurring. You kept everyone safe until the sheriff’s office arrived. So, congratulations to you. To Natalia, when we’re finished sending you to prison, you’re on your way back to Colombia."

Like the vast majority of defensive gun uses in the United States, no shots were fired in this incident. As drunk as Gaviria might have been, she apparently still cognizant of the fact that bringing a knife to a gun fight is a very bad idea, and she appears to have been at least somewhat cooperative once the armed citizens drew their firearms. 

Most DGU's never receive any media coverage at all, especially if there's no pull of a trigger. This story, though, has some elements that make it irresistible for local media. 

First, Gaviria's antics were caught on surveillance cameras, so there's decent video for the local television news to show.  

Then there's the highly quotable sheriff of Polk County, who was more than willing to deliver a couple of good soundbites. I think it's fair to say that Sheriff Judd isn't camera-shy, and he's up there with Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy when it comes to offering up memorable commentary. 

Finally, the fact that there were two armed citizens in the Dollar General makes this defensive gun use a little out of the ordinary, even for Florida. Put all of those elements together and you've got a story that's almost tailor-made for local TV. 

I think, though, that the most important part of this story isn't the surveillance video, the sheriff's colorful commentary, or even the fact that two armed citizens were involved. It's that an armed response to a potentially deadly threat ended without anyone getting hurt.

Those armed citizens didn't have to fire a shot to protect themselves and the other shoppers. The mere presence of their firearms was apparently enough to convince Gaviria that continuing her rampage wasn't in her best interest.

That's a successful defensive gun use by any reasonable definition, even if it won't show up in the statistics on justifiable homicides or criminals shot by armed citizens. And it's a good reminder that often times the most effective defensive shot is the one that never has to be fired.

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