Criminals are like predators. They choose the time and place of attack. They often prepare thoroughly, scout the location (usually a target-rich environment), choose their weapons and mode of attack, and bring the element of surprise to cause maximum chaos and casualties.

Their prey never wants to lose its life. Often, it falls victim. But sometimes, the prey is armed, prepared, and fights back. That’s what happened in Last Vegas last Friday afternoon. This report comes from KTNV: 

Man called ‘hero’ for stopping shooter at Turnberry Towers Friday

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A resident at Turnberry Towers near Karen and Paradise is calling a building employee a hero after a gunman walked in and fired shots at the front desk on Friday.

[…] Law enforcement has not confirmed the following details.

According to the resident, a man wearing a helmet had an AR-15 and other weapons when he entered the towers Friday afternoon.

This is when the resident tells us the man fired shots in the area of the front desk, shattering glass which is shown in pictures they have provided to us.

The resident says it was an employee of the towers who stopped the attack, and thinks they are a hero who deserves recognition for stepping in.

The above article is sparse on details, but there’s more information available from 8newsnow:

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – One person was found shot in what police are calling an “isolated incident” at an apartment complex near the north end of the Las Vegas Strip.

Police said they received a call shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday, about a shooting in the 300 block of Karen Avenue. When officers arrived, they found two people involved, one of which was injured from a gunshot wound.

The unidentified person was taken to a nearby hospital and is in critical condition.

[…]

Benjamin Teal a resident who lives at an apartment complex in the area stated that their valet attendant may have saved his life by telling him to leave, and then moments later several gunshots were heard.

“My valet comes out waving his arms saying, ‘There is a guy with a gun, turn around and go the other way,’ and so we go down to the basement the first level where the valet parking is and then we heard about six to seven or eight gunshots,” Teal shared. “It was pretty distinguishable to be a gunshot.”

The two stories are lining up. The address is roughly the same, the day and time of day are about the same. What we’re gathering from them is that there was a shooter and he’s in critical condition. One of the residents at the apartment complex echoes what the resident in the first story said. (We don’t know if the interviewed residents are the same person though.)

What I would like to note in this story is bolded above: the police called this an “isolated incident.” Was it really an isolated incident or was this a mass shooting that was averted? For that, there’s information available on Twitter, including a video. Las Vegas Locally posted the following thread about police activity:

There's heavy police activity at Turnberry Towers according to a resident.

"20+ cop cars, blocking Karen Avenue, officers went into parking garage with rifles"

— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) June 23, 2023

Twitter user Brianna Dymond provided more details on what happened:

Her account is age-restricted, so here’s a copy of what she posted.

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. He shot the armed man and saved so many lives. Nobody was injured other than the shooter.

It looks like there was an attempted mass attack by someone, and he commenced by shooting up the front lobby of a building. But there was an armed defender prepared to stop him. His name according to the above tweet is Homberto, he shot the attacker, and saved many lives.

Las Vegas Locally posted CCTV footage of the attack on Twitter. Note that this is an unpleasant video to watch and is not for the faint of heart.

Video of the Turnberry Towers shooter blasting through the lobby doors with a rifle and then getting shot by an employee who was concealed carrying a handgun (WARNING: violent content) https://t.co/pPQOnnyoTi pic.twitter.com/lYo4Wqw6WY

— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) June 24, 2023

Like a typical criminal or predator, the attacker brought the element of surprise with him. But there was a concealed carrier at the targeted location who was able to meet force with force to stop the threat and save lives. We will never know how many people Homberto saved. That’s an alternative that we cannot fathom or speculate about.

Going back to what the police called an “isolated incident,” we all know how this would have turned out if there was no concealed carrier who had been armed, ready, and able to stop the shooter. The press would have had a field day reporting on the death toll. “If it bleeds, it leads,” is an old news coverage adage.

The gun grabbers at Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Giffords, etc. would have milked the tragedy to maximum effect, sending out donation requests, and happily taking calls and interviews from the agenda-driven press.

I’m glad the attempted mass shooting turned out the way it did: with the perpetrator put down before he could take the lives of innocents.