The following took place in Dublin, Ireland.
Man shot at with own gun after tackling beach thugs
By Conor Feehan – 04 July 2014 12:00 AM
A MAN who was intimidated by a gang of thugs he confronted as they were smashing bottles on a scenic Dublin beach was shot at after the young men wrestled his own shotgun from him, gardai have confirmed.David Byrne (65) intervened after spotting the gang of around a dozen youths – aged in their late teens and early 20s – smashing bottles on Hospital Beach near his seaside home at Donabate.
He feared the upturned shards of glass would cut the feet of young children.
“I’m no hero, and looking back maybe I shouldn’t have intervened, but if a child had landed on one of those bottle he could be maimed for life,” he said.
David approached the group on Tuesday evening. He said that a number of the gang then followed him to where his beach house is.
“I have a shotgun for clay pigeon shooting and I went and got it after they sealed off the laneway to my house with a couch,” he said.
He added that he didn’t realise one of the gang had circled behind and then he was hit from behind and the gun was taken from him.
“The next thing was this head-the-ball was standing over me with my gun in his hand pointing it at me Rambo-style. He told me to run, so I ducked and ran and then I heard the two bangs of the gun being fired from behind me,” he said.
Two of the gang were later arrested and the gun was recovered.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Swords garda station on 01 6664700.
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Source:http://www.herald.ie/news/man-shot-at-with-own-gun-after-tackling-beach-thugs-30406938.html
Frankly, I think if he had used a handgun the situation would have been different, but then again, maybe this is the kind of situation where you’re better off calling the police. Breaking bottles isn’t the same as someone getting beat up, a woman being raped, a burglary in progress, or the usual heroic situations. Suppose you shoot one of these bottle-breakers, what do you tell the cops afterwards? That you felt your life was in danger of death and massive bodily injury? That’s a hard sell.
