Good Guy with a Gun #209: Auburn, WA
She was sitting in a Walmart parking lot at 3:30 AM. Two armed men thought that made her an easy target. | Original incident: May 28, 2024
These posts are based on our Good Guy with a Gun calendar. Today’s post is essentially the same as the calendar version.
Our story starts with a 53-year-old woman who was in her car (might have been a pickup truck) in a Walmart parking lot around 3:30 in the morning.
No, we don’t know why she was sitting at Walmart at that hour, because she wasn’t an employee, but... Walmart.
While she was sitting in her vehicle, two armed men, aged 19 and 21, approached her and demanded her property. She drew her gun and fired; they drew and fired back.
She didn’t emerge unscathed, but her injuries were non-life-threatening.
Better still, the men fled — and then were the subject of a manhunt that included a K-9 unit, drones, and a helicopter. Two hours later, they were in custody. Both were arrested and booked for robbery and assault at Maleng Regional Justice Center.
A brave woman held her own long enough for the K-9, the drones, and the helicopter to do the rest.
Sources
Primary
The Auburn PD posted their report to Facebook.
Local news
There are dozens of almost identical versions of this story, all republishing the same KOMO original. Here’s KOMO’s two-ish-minute TV segment.
Other organizations that covered the incident, not just reprinting KOMO, included King 5, Auburn Examiner, KIRO 7, The Auburn Reporter (as part of a good old-fashioned police blotter), My Northwest, and SmokeTales (below).
I’ll be honest and say that there may be other coverage, particularly among the 2A community, but the search is too noisy for me to be sure. If anyone sees someone to whom I should give credit, please give me a yell.