California restaurant, where good guy with gun stops bad guy with knife

An armed attacker entered a restaurant in Cerritos, California. A good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a knife. That simple description covers an interesting story.

What we know

The guy with a knife stole a truck from a young woman. He damaged the truck and dumped it in a shopping center and then ran into a nearby restaurant — into the kitchen and food-preparation area. The attacker, who was already bleeding from a self-inflicted knife wound to his neck, threatened the restaurant staff. The staff ran out the back door of the kitchen and also ran out of the kitchen and into the dining area.

One of the customers sitting in the dining area was a gun owner. He had his California permit to legally carry his personal firearm concealed in public, and he was armed that day — inside the restaurant. He defended himself and other innocent parties.

The defender stood up and presented his firearms, shouting, “Stop! Drop the knife!” The attacker turned toward the defender and advanced with the knife in his hands. The defender shot the attacker. The attacker stopped advancing and fell to the ground. The defender stopped shooting. The defender remained at the scene and gave a statement to the police.

Let’s take a closer look at what happened.

• This was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday.
• The defender stood up rather than retreating to a position of concealment and cover. That was the first rung on the use-of-force ladder. He said, "I’m here and I see you."
• The defender presented his firearm. Now both the attacker and the defender had weapons in their hands.
• The defender issued a verbal challenge — “Stop!”
• The attacker initiated the conflict by closing the distance to the defender.
• The defender recognized an immediate, lethal, and unavoidable threat. Read those three terms carefully. All three must be present to justify the use of lethal force in self-defense. The defender did not have time to think and evaluate. He did have time to recognize a situation he had already considered and classified.
• The defender used lethal force to stop the threat. The armed defender stopped using lethal force when it was no longer justified to do so. That could happen before the first shot, or after he fired every shot in the gun’s magazine.
• The defender wore the mantle of innocence. He stayed at the scene. He holstered his firearm. He called the police or asked someone else to do so. He gave a statement to the police and cooperated in collecting evidence of what happened.

There is a lot more we want the good guy to do. Unfortunately, those sorts of details aren’t covered in most news sources. Let’s speculate about what we might want to do.

Most attackers who use a weapon against innocent people are high or drunk. Don’t expect sane behavior from a crazy person.

Ask people to stay down. You don’t know if the attacker is a crazy person acting alone or part of a robbery team. It might not be safe to stand and move around.

Here in Ohio: 2026 BFA-PAC Grades and Endorsements for the Ohio General Election

Can you take the knife or gun away from the wounded attacker without exposing yourself to danger? There are entire class segments devoted to how to secure a weapon that was used in a crime. When in doubt, leave that to the police.

Ask if anyone else is hurt and needs assistance. Is there a cook who was cut and is lying on the floor of the kitchen? Was one of the restaurant customers hurt when they dove for the floor? Was anyone else hurt by the shot you fired? The emergency response system might need to roll several teams if there are a number of injured victims.

Ask everyone to call 911. That gives the 911 system a list of cell phone numbers that were in the restaurant when the attack happened. Also, ask a particular staff member in the restaurant to call 911 and then stand next to you when they are on the line with the dispatcher. Since someone was shot, you want to ask for both police and emergency medical services.

If at all possible, you want to put your gun away before the police come through the door.

Do what the police tell you to do. It is their scene, and they are responsible for what happens after they arrive.

Have a lawyer to call. Your lawyer will write out your official statement. His job is to be accurate and complete. He will explain why the use of lethal force was the safest course of action. At the scene, the most you can do is make sure the police don’t overlook obvious evidence. Once that is done, then be quiet and let your lawyer tell your story.

Despite its anti-gun politics, there are many millions of gun owners in California. California citizens in the Democrat-controlled coastal counties might have a difficult time securing a carry permit. Citizens who live in inland counties have a much easier time, and their permits are good in every county. Armed defense like this occurs thousands of times every day.

Rob Morse writes about gun rights at his SlowFacts blog and hosts the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society podcast.