Via the Examiner, an underreported aspect of last week’s Oregon mall shooting. 22-year-old Nick Meli was in the Clackamas Town Center mall and was legally carrying a concealed firearm when all hell broke loose.
“I heard three shots and turned and looked at Casey and said, ‘are you serious?,'” he said.
The friend and baby hit the floor. Meli, who has a concealed carry permit, positioned himself behind a pillar.
“He was working on his rifle,” said Meli. “He kept pulling the charging handle and hitting the side.”
The break in gunfire allowed Meli to pull out his own gun, but he never took his eyes off the shooter.
“As I was going down to pull, I saw someone in the back of the Charlotte move, and I knew if I fired and missed, I could hit them,” he said.
Meli took cover inside a nearby store. He never pulled the trigger. He stands by that decision.
“I’m not beating myself up cause I didn’t shoot him,” said Meli. “I know after he saw me, I think the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself.”
Meli was not a police officer, as is the woman who stopped the potential mass killing in San Antonio. He’s a regular citizen who took the time to obtain proper training and licensing for his firearm.
It was also a show of force that ended up stopping the Sandy Hook killer. He murdered unimpeded until he heard law enforcement approaching, and at that point he reportedly turned the gun on himself.
These mass killers are pathetic cowards who target defenseless people. The media needs to start framing them as cowards and weaklings, because that’s what they are, and such honest reporting might help prevent some copycats.
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