An armed Pastor in Tumwater Washington is now being hailed as a hero after he thwarted an armed assailant in a local Walmart who was on a shooting rampage.
Tim Day, according to authorities is responsible for the shooting, his motives remain unknown. However, there is a suspicion that Day may have been having an episode when he went on a shooting rampage.
“At this point, we’re not sure what his motive was,” Laura Wohl of Tumwater Police told KOMO News. “There are some indications that he may have been experiencing a little bit of paranoia and wasn’t sure whether his car and his situation were safe.”
The Pastor, according to Police and local Media desired not be named and requested that his identity be kept private. However, KOMO news, while not naming the hero did say that the Pastor is also a paramedic.
As the situation unfolded the Pastor and a thirty-seven-year-old licensed gun-owner, Jesse Zamora, responded to the situation before the arrival of police. Zamora described that while he was inside the Walmart shopping with his wife he heard what sounded like two gunshots, moments later, people began to run in the store and scream “shooter.”
Zamora says at this point he pulled his gun. Moments later, he was joined by forty-seven-year-old Oakville Pastor who asked if he was armed, when Zamora responded to the Pastor “yes,” the Pastor said, “let’s go.”
Zamora stated that the Pastor confronted Day and “he said something along the lines of ‘Put your gun down.” Later on, he heard gunshots and watched Day die. According to Zamora, based on the assailant’s behavior, he believes, that he would have shot more people.
“Thank God for a concealed weapons permit state we live in, and those two men were carrying at the time,” Milton Mathis, a customer, told KOMO News. “We get a bad rap in this state about the ‘open carry’ law and concealed weapons permit, but that day it prevailed, and somebody’s life was saved.”