A 75-year-old Army veteran who was teaching 16 children chess ended up becoming their hero after a man wielding knives ran into the room threatening to kill them.
James Vernon was at an Illinois public library when 19-year-old Dustin Brown allegedly came in with a hunting knife in each hand screaming he was going to kill people.
Vernon immediately got in front of Brown and tried to settle the young man down. He distracted Brown long enough for the kids to run out of the room to safety. “I gave them the cue to get the heck out of there, and, boy, they did that! Quick, like rabbits.” Vernon told the Pekin Daily Times.
When Brown allegedly slashed at Vernon, the vet says he remembered his army knife-fight training from 50 years ago. “I should have hit his wrist,” “That’s how you’re trained, but it’s been half a century.”
Vernon had two arteries and a tendon on his left hand cut blocking the knife swipes, but his bigger size allowed him to grab and throw Brown onto a table. He hit him until he released the knives and pinned him down until library staff and police arrived.
“I failed my mission to kill everyone,” Brown reportedly told police after his arrest. At the time of the incident, Brown was free on bond while facing prosecution charges of possessing child pornography. He told police he’d been planning for two weeks to kill people and then himself, according to an affidavit.
Vernon is thankful for his old army training but admits that if the attacker had brought a gun instead, “It would’ve been a different story.”
What a relief that Vernon was with those kids! Share Vernon’s heroic actions with your family and friends!
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