Defensive Gun Use weekly roundup
Seven recent stories — five fresh, five conclusions to older stories — that hit the news over the last week or so.
Welcome to another weekly round-up. Is your state in the list?
Note that we don’t pretend that this represents every newsroom that covered any given story. And everyone is innocent until proved guilty.
Florida
Port St Lucie
On the morning of May 31, 2026, Jose Tsu Zamora, 64, showed up at a church parking lot to wait for his ex-girlfriend to show up for services. As she stepped out of a vehicle, he pressed a gun against her side and tried to drag her away toward his vehicle. There was already a domestic violence injunction against him ordering him to stay away from the woman, and an active warrant for previously violating that court order. He’d reportedly told her: “If I can’t have you, nobody can.”
Several bystanders saw the attempted kidnapping. The woman “threw herself to the ground to prevent being moved,” which is when two armed bystanders moved in and confronted Zamora. When confronted, he let go of the woman and fled. Police found and arrested him later that evening.
The police chief credited the two bystanders with saving her life. “Had it not been for these courageous citizens who stepped in and intervened, this kidnapping would have been successful.”
Illinois
Decatur
We just received the happy ending to a DGU story from Decatur, Illinois.
Early on September 2, 2025, a 67-year-old man was fixing a lawnmower in his storage building when Telly Young burst in. Young’s opening line: “I own this building, where is my sister?” Then he started shooting — three to four rounds in the owner’s direction.
The owner — a FOID card and CCL holder — drew his own gun and fired back, hitting Young in the chest and right bicep. He ordered the wounded Young to toss his weapon away from him, held him at gunpoint, and called 911. When officers arrived, the victim was holding Young at gunpoint outside the building, waiting for them.
The owner faced no charges. Young wasn’t so lucky. A repeat felon with a colorful legal history, he was recently convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon and was sentenced to 20 years last week— his longest stretch yet.
According to WCIA, “Young is still facing two counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and court records show he will be back in court for a pre-trial hearing on June 29.”
Aggressor gunman who got the worst of it also gets 20 years in prison (Herald-Review)
Repeat felon sentenced to 20 years for illegal weapon possession (WCIA)
Indiana
Andersen
Another good ending to a DGU story, this time in Indiana. Back in 2023, Donavan Harris lured O’Terreyon Johnson into his car with the excuse that he wanted to pay back a debt. What Johnson didn’t know was that 15-year-old Julian Craig was hidden in Harris’s back seat.
