Opinion
Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- -On 4 June 2018, Springfield police officers engaged in a gunfight with Joshua S. Stanford. Stanford was being pursued in a suspected package theft. He shot at police, and the cops shot back. From news-leader.com:
That’s when police say the suspect produced a handgun and fired at officers.
The officers were not hit.
An officer caught up to Stanford in an alley behind 2109 N. Fort Ave. The release says Stanford “presented a threat with the firearm and refused to comply with verbal commands from the officer” and the officer shot Stanford.
Police have not yet released the name of the officer involved.
Note the address, 2109 N. Fort Avenue. Not noted at the time, was that a black man with a concealed carry permit, risked his life to aid a police officer in the middle of a gunfight when the officer’s firearm had jammed.
Jerry Pendergrass had a concealed carry permit. Jerry’s address was at 2115 N. Fort Avenue. He had a firearm. A gunfight had started not far from his house. We do not know what Jerry saw before he intervened.
One officer, Andy Zinke, had just shot the suspect. Jerry was there to back him up when Zinke’s gun jammed. When the wounded suspect brought his weapon to bear on Zinke and Penergrass, they both shot the suspect. From ky3.com:
“That guy sat back up on his knees and looked directly at me and that’s when I was telling him hey stop, hey stop– you can live. I mean it doesn’t have to end here. You can live,” Pendergrass yelled. “There is an ambulance in front of the house that can get you help right now. He looked at me, looked at his gun and I said, “no don’t look at the gun.” With me saying that, Zinke was able to stop moving around and bring his attention back and it was at the same time that he brought his attention back that we both ended up– the man reached for the gun and we shot him.”
The major media loves to trumpet examples of black men shot by police. When there is an example of armed black men saving a policeman, with a gun, and when the Police Chiefs’ Association gives our fellow man an award for it, there is little coverage.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Springfield man was recently given one of the top honors in the state from law enforcement. Jerry Pendergrass is a concealed carry owner who turned citizen cop in a life or death situation. Springfield police and the Missouri Police Chiefs Association awarded Pendergrass the President’s Citizen Award.
His quick action helped save an officer potentially from getting shot.
The incident happened on June 4, 2018. That night was life ending for one man and life changing for several others.
“That probably actually happened in ten seconds,” explained Pendergrass. Those ten seconds play over and over again for Pendergrass
There used to be a definition of news, an aphorism, or shorthand, that is attributed to several sources about 1900. It is:
“If a dog bites a man,” said Dana, “that is not news. If a man bites a dog, that is news.”
According to the Media, a black man who uses a gun to save a police officer, and then is given an award for it by the state Association of Chiefs of Police, is a classic “man bites dog” story. It is very rare, unusual, and, therefore, newsworthy. Where is the AP headline of this fascinating item?
Nowhere to be found. Why? I will leave that as an exercise for the reader.
Getting involved in a gunfight is a dangerous activity for anyone. Either side or both, may consider you a threat and target you. Armed citizens are sometimes mistakenly shot by police. If you go to the aid of a police officer, first attempt to understand what is happening. Take care in what you do.
Aiding a single officer is less dangerous than multiple officers. Almost all successful examples of armed citizens assisting police are where the citizen comes to the aid of a single officer who is under attack. Armed citizens still come to the assistance of the police. Police and armed citizens are natural allies. When the cops trust citizens, and citizens trust the police, crime rates fall too low levels. A significant number of armed citizens have saved police officers. Those saves become national news in police circles.
If the national media weren’t biased and politically driven in favor of “progressive disarmament,” these stories would be national news for everyone.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.