A concealed-carry license holder in Flint, Mich., restrained a man at gunpoint after that man allegedly beat and tried to rape a woman.
The mother of the victim expressed her thanks to the concealed carrier and the others that intervened to help her daughter, according to MLive.
The mother of a woman who told police she was attacked inside an eastside home said she is thankful for neighbors who rushed to her daughter's aid, including a man who held the alleged attacker at gunpoint then chased him down and helped hold him until police arrived.
"She got lucky," said the woman's mother, who is not being identified to protect the identity of the woman. "If it wasn't for all these people who cared enough to help her, and not turn the other cheek like so many people would, my daughter would be dead right now."
The victim was visibly shaken and bleeding after escaping her attacker and running into the neighborhood.
"Her eyes were all swollen and she had blood all over her and in her mouth," Abels said. "She was pretty messed up."
That's when the man with the gun and other members of the community stepped in.
Several area residents offered the 21-year-old woman clothing and comfort while a man who holds a valid concealed pistols license ordered the suspect out of the house at gunpoint, according to Flint police.
The man took off running but was chased down by the gun-wielding citizen who, with the help of an undercover auto theft police officer, tackled and held him down until police arrived.
The alleged rapist is now being charged with a felony.
Jeffery McSwain, Jr., was arrested and charged with one count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration. During a preliminary exam on Wednesday, Oct. 8, a Flint District Court judge ruled McSwain will stand trial in Circuit Court on the charge, a 10-year-felony.
The gun rights site GunsSaveLives.net said that though this story involves a gun being used to defend an innocent, cases like this are not usually counted in many gun defense stories.
This incident is the one of the most common types of defensive gun uses. That is, one in which no one was actually shot. Despite this being one of the most common types of defensive gun uses, these incidents are often not included in statistics about defensive gun uses. Many of these statistics and studies focus solely on justifiable homicides, which represent only a fraction of total defensive gun uses.