Good Samaritan in Raleigh Uses Legally Owned Gun to Thwart Ax Attack

A Good Samaritan in Raleigh, North Carolina, who intervened in an ax attack with his legally owned firearm will not face charges, according to local news reports.

A television station, CBS17, mentioned that a resident witnessed a dangerous domestic dispute between two homeless men, one of whom swung an ax at the other. The witness then fired his weapon, seriously injuring the attacker. The Wake County District Attorney’s Office decided against filing charges after the attacker succumbed to his injuries, as reported by ABC11, another local station.

The assailant, identified as 39-year-old Emmanuel Graham, lived in a nearby encampment. Graham and the other man were reportedly in a domestic relationship, and an argument between them escalated into physical violence, as detailed in a release from the Raleigh Police Department.

Authorities indicated that Graham attacked the other man with the ax and chased him into a neighborhood where the Good Samaritan was present. The armed bystander then drew his handgun and fired, hitting Graham in the upper body. He was subsequently taken to the hospital but did not survive.

Research shows that firearms are more often used for self-defense than in criminal acts, based on studies by criminologist Gary Kleck. Interestingly, many defensive occurrences involved firearms that weren’t even discharged.