I’d like to say this is one of those “good news” stories, but while it has a satisfying ending there were still people injured. Something happened at the Walmart in Tumwater, Washington yesterday, but looking at multiple reports from the scene it sounds like we’re not exactly sure what it was. The only facts which seem to not be in dispute are that police were alerted to possible criminal activity in the area when a man with a gun was seen near the Walmart. Shots were fired and the suspect subsequently attempted to carjack two vehicles in the parking lot. At that point, two “armed bystanders” drew their weapons and the assailant is no longer among the vertical citizenry. (NY Daily News)

A gunman injured a teen and shot a man in a pair of carjacking attempts Sunday, before being killed by a bystander outside a Washington state Walmart store. The incident at the Walmart in Tumwater happened about 5 p.m… Two bystanders outside the store drew their weapons and at least one of them fatally shot the gunman, Wohl told the Olympian. The carjacking victim was flown by helicopter to a hospital, she said. Police are investigating four scenes connected with the shooting.

As I said, there are parts of the story which still haven’t been made entirely clear. According to some witnesses, the gunman was only “near” the Walmart. But others are saying that he was definitely inside the store and fired some shots at a display case.

What doesn’t seem to be in dispute is the fact that he was trying to carjack some vehicles. One victim was shot twice and flown to a hospital in critical condition. Another is a 16-year-old girl who, thankfully, wasn’t as severely injured. As for the good samaritans in this story, there were two of them. But we still don’t know if they both fired or only one of them did. Either way, somebody was a good enough shot to bring the crime spree to a terminal conclusion.

So there you have it. Another of those “good guy with a gun” stories which I’m constantly told don’t really happen. One witness on the scene expressed great relief, saying that a lot more people might have been shot if the armed citizen(s) hadn’t intervened. We may have just witnessed a case of a citizen cutting off a potential mass shooting before the police had time to arrive.

Well done, sir. Now let’s just hope that liberal Washington State officials don’t try to figure out some way to charge you with a crime over this.