A good guy without a gun

photo credit:  Baltimore Sun

In the riots over a week ago in downtown Cleveland, property was destroyed, looted, and torched.  The Cleveland Police explained that they were “unprepared” for the riots.  “Unprepared”?  Despite having seen the violence and rioting in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Columbus in the days preceding?  Now comes a report about how a citizen in California stopped further killings.  From CBS News:

U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo, who allegedly killed a Santa Cruz deputy and wounded two others with gunfire and improvised explosives in a weekend ambush in the Santa Cruz Mountains, was captured by a local resident who wrestled him to the ground and disarmed him of an AR-15, pipe bomb and pistol in a life-or-death confrontation, CBS San Francisco Bay Area reports.

Angry and emotional Santa Cruz Sheriff Jim Hart called Carrillo "a dangerous man intent on bringing harm to police officers."

"I want to talk a little about Steven Carrillo, I don't even want to say his name again," Hart told reporters at a Monday afternoon news conference. "It's the last time you are going to hear me say it. This guy was active Air Force. He was dangerous and he was an angry man intent on bringing harm to police officers. He murdered Sergeant (Damon) Gutzwiller. He injured another deputy."

But Hart said it was the actions of a local resident who stopped Carrillo from claiming more victims Saturday night.

"This guy (Carrillo) went into the backyard of a local resident and the local resident confronted him and wanted to know what he was doing on his property," Hart said. 

"The suspect told him that — actually he had an AR-15 slung, he was carrying an AR. He told the resident he wanted his car keys. The resident very calmly went into his house, obtained a key and came back out and handed it to him."

"As the suspect turned around, the resident tackled him and the AR-15 fell away and the resident took this guy to the ground. At that time the suspect reached into his pocket and pulled out a pipe bomb and tried to ignite a pipe bomb while being held down."

"This resident was able to knock the pipe bomb out of his hand and then the suspect reached into his waistband and pulled out a pistol. There was a wrestling match over the pistol. The resident was able to knock the pistol out of his hand, detain this guy. Multiple other community members from Ben Lomond jumped on this guy and held him until our deputies sheriffs were able to get there and take him into custody."

The full report is here.  So if this citizen could prevent more violence in California, why did the Cleveland Police – who did such a great job with security at the RNC in downtown Cleveland in 2016 – drop the ball?  What were their marching orders?  Inquiring minds want to know.

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