Bend, Oregon 8/30/2022
"The Safeway worker who was killed in Sunday??s shooting could have run to safety. Instead, he hid and waited to attack the shooter, Bend Police said Tuesday.
Police released new details on its ongoing investigation Tuesday afternoon, which included information about how bystanders jumped in to try rescuing one of the victims.
Video surveillance showed that when employee Donald Surrett Jr. heard the gunshots around 7:00 p.m. Sunday, he had ??ample time? to run away.
???? but instead (Surrett) moved a produce cart into position to hide from the attacker. When the suspect approached, Surrett waited for the suspect to look away, then attacked the suspect with a produce knife he kept on his hip,? Bend Police said in a press release.
The suspect shot and killed Surrett, police said, before taking his own life as officers entered the building."
Such honor and courage.?ÿ An example to us all.
There's a saying about taking a knife to a gun fight.
There's a saying about taking a knife to a gun fight.
We civilians all have the legal right to cower in fear and die as cowards.?ÿ Doesn't mean that we should fail to honor those who refuse to do so.
Many years ago I lived about a quarter mile from a supermarket.?ÿ Late one day, a bad guy strolled in near closing time with a gun, gathered the few employees still on duty and took them into a large freezer in the rear of the store.?ÿ There he promptly killed them one by one.?ÿ Then he went back out to steal what he could before leaving.
I did not know any of those workers personally but recognized them while shopping.?ÿ Some were barely out of high school, if that.?ÿ What a waste.
I doubt, seriously, that I would have volunteered to be a hero if I had happened to be in the store at the time.?ÿ Throwing bags of frozen corn and peas would not be much of an offense.
Given those circumstance's, most of us would've too...
But Mr. Surrett, on the other hand, saw an opportunity and took it. He had military training, and put it good use; he made the ultimate sacrifice, he's never coming back, but he probably saved lives...
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And just in case this turns political, I want all you gun huggers to know, I'm behind you 100% of the way!
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There's a saying about taking a knife to a gun fight.
@bill93?ÿ You might have tried to add some levity to the news of that young man but,?ÿ that .. actually might have been an actual really good point.
If you need to take down an active shooter you're gonna' need both hands free to give it your best try.?ÿ So really that trying to stab him thing kind of limits your ability to get the gun away.?ÿ
the news of that young man
The employee who tried to stop the shooter was a 66 year old man. 20+ year retired Army veteran?ÿ
The employee who tried to stop the shooter was a 66 year old man. 20+ year retired Army veteran?ÿ
Briefly caught the news of this. I had heard it was a young man. Maybe they were mentioning the shooter.
No levity intended. Maybe someone who has training can tell us, but my guess is that even an ultimately fatal knife would may not incapacitate someone soon enough to prevent them shooting you.
but my guess is that even an ultimately fatal knife would may not incapacitate someone soon enough to prevent them shooting you.
Fight of flight Bill.
Don Surrett had mere seconds for one or the other to kick in. The shooter entered the store and immediately shot an 84 year old man in the guts. Firing his assault rifle willy-nilly he headed towards Surrett's section. Maybe 30 feet and around a corner from where the 84 year old died. Employees and customers are rounding the corner and beating cheeks past Surrett towards the back door in the produce section. What do you do? Turn tail, run,?ÿ and probably take one in the back? Or in a couple of heartbeats appraise the situation and formulate a possible defense given the resources you have at hand??ÿ?ÿ
Video surveillance showed ... he had ??ample time? to run away.
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Right, @bill93 , ample time to turn on his heals and runaway?? maybe into the walk-in freezer where others were sheltering, but not necessarily ample time to fire up a 3D printer and manufacture a handgun. And the shooter wasn't pushing a cart along comparing prices on a variety of items as he strolled through the isles. He was looking for people to kill. Again, Surrett went with fight over flight to try to put a stop to an impending massacre. Per the chief of police:
?Surrett, a Safeway worker, got into a physical altercation with the shooter and tried to disarm him.?ÿ
??We believe, truly, that that stopped or disrupted the activities long enough to allow our officers time to come in and also to disrupt the shooter enough to really confuse him enough to stop what he was doing; stop actively shooting people and that really was a heroic action,? said Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz.
Krantz said without that action, the shooter would have likely continued through the store.
??He stopped other people losing their lives. He was heroic and that fight is what stopped this incident.?
The shooter had 120 more rounds of ammo on him that he most likely intended to send into any available live bodies that he happened upon during his shopping spree.
