Thanks to a helpful bystander, police in Ohio were able to apprehend an armed man who was trying to run away from them, authorities say.
On Thursday, exactly one month after the incident occurred near a library in Columbus, Ohio, on April 3, the Columbus Division of Police released footage that showed a man, whom they identified as “Bill,” bravely sticking out his leg to trip the armed suspect.
In the video, Bill described the moments that led up to his decision to step in, saying, “I saw you guys were chasing him and I could see that he was holding something in his waistband while he was running from you guys, but he had a good lead on your closest officer. So I got in his way to slow him down so you guys could get him.”
Alongside the video, the Columbus Division of Police added that “Bill,” who uses a cane, had been visiting the West Columbus Library “with his granddaughter” at the time of the incident.
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Describing what happened next, police wrote that “Bill stuck out a back leg to trip the suspect who was running from police.”
“That move likely saved the 18-year-old suspect’s life,” they continued. “Police recovered a Glock 9 MM pistol with a high capacity extended clip containing 29 rounds. The suspect, with a lengthy criminal record, went back to jail. No one was injured.”
The video did not address what had led to the police chase and what the 18-year-old suspect had been arrested for, although in an interview with Inside Edition, police named the suspect as Shawn Briggs. The Columbus Division of Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“I just felt as a citizen of this town I had a responsibility to act, to help,” the helpful bystander said in the video after being thanked by an officer. “I think people are supposed to help.”
Commenting on the footage, one officer in the video said, “You can tell he’s timing it out perfectly. He made the decision early and it’s great watching that footage.”
from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/2jC63eB
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