Police in Arizona Praise Armed Citizens for Thwarting Bar Shooting

According to the latest research from Dr. John Lott and the Crime Prevention Research Center, armed citizens stop active shootings more frequently and face a lower risk of being killed or injured than police do. That was the case in Peoria, Arizona on Tuesday night, when an intoxicated patron at a sports bar was denied another round and escorted off the premises. 

The man then went to his car in the parking lot and retrieved a gun before walking back towards the business. After firing several shots into the air, the man then turned his attention to the bar itself. He fired several more rounds, one of which struck a patron inside. As AZFamily.com reported:

Kristopher Babros with Peoria Police said two people on a nearby bench saw what was happening, and one of them used his gun to shoot and kill the patron. 

The patron who died has not yet been identified.  One person inside the bar was injured in the shooting, Babros said, but he has since been released from the hospital and is recovering.

Babros commended the witnesses who intervened for neutralizing the suspect before any other innocent people were hurt.

I’m not sure why AZFamily.com minimized the armed citizen aspect of this story by declining to directly quote Babros, but they’re not alone. ABC 15 in Phoenix barely mentioned the role that the good guys with their guns played in stopping the attack in its coverage. 

Police say two citizens were sitting on the bench outside of the bar who reportedly defended themselves by “taking action” in an exchange of gunfire in the parking lot.

The ABC affiliate didn’t even bother to mention Babros’s comments. 

Fox 10 in Phoenix has done the best job to date of providing additional information about the individuals who stopped the shooting and the praise they received from police. 

Police say bystanders who were sitting on a bench outside the business “took action” when the suspect began firing into the bar.

“They ended up having a gunfire exchange in the parking lot where the suspect was pronounced deceased,” Babros said.

Police say the bystanders stayed at the scene and are cooperating with investigators.

“Thankfully, these two individuals were sitting on a park bench out front with an armed subject that was in the parking lot that could have done a lot more damage than what he did,” Babros said. “We’re grateful that they stood up and took action and did what was right.”

Babros said 10-15 patrons were inside the bar at the time of the shooting.

While the Fox affiliate at least quoted Babros’s gratitude towards the armed citizens, neither they nor any of the other news outlets mentioned the defensive gun use in their headlines, which seems like a glaring omission to me.  

According to the CPRC’s data, between 2014 and 2023 there were 531 active shooting incidents, which the FBI defines as an event where an individual attempts to kill people in a public place, excluding shootings tied to robberies or gang violence. 150 of those were stopped by law enforcement, while 180 were stopped by armed citizens (another 193 were stopped by neither police nor lawful gun owners). Of the 193 active shootings stopped by armed citizens, the CRPC says 58 were “mass shootings” that were averted thanks to the actions of lawful gun owners. 

With 10-15 people inside the bar at the time the gunman opened fire, I’d say that the armed citizens in Peoria may very well have prevented a mass shooting, and they certainly stopped an active shooting before more than one person was injured by the attacker. That may not be headline-worthy for the news media in Phoenix, but we’re not going to downplay their actions here at Bearing Arms. These gun owners were in the right place at the right time, but most importantly they were willing to put themselves at risk to save the lives of others. Their heroism should be celebrated, not brushed aside, and they should serve as a reminder of just how important it is for us to exercise our right to bear arms; not just in self-defense, but to protect others as well.