(Photo: Dallas Morning News)
No one knows what James Jones was planning to do yesterday when he entered an Arlington, Texas, bar, armed to the teeth, yelling and saying incoherent things.
After shooting and killing the bar’s manager, a 37-year-old father named Cesar Perez, Jones had enough firepower on his person to continue killing until the police arrived.
Fortunately, a Texas CHL holder stopped the tragedy before it escalated.
“We’re treating the good guy as sort of a hero,” said Arlington Police Lt. Christopher Cook.
The CHL holder, who was dining with his wife, pulled out his firearm and shot Jones in the back shortly after Jones shot Perez. Both Jones and Perez were pronounced dead at the scene.
“He made the decision to engage the shooter, fearing there would be other loss of life,” Cook said.
The police are not filing charges against the CHL holder, though the investigation is continuing.
Arlington PD told WFAA that Jones was carrying four weapons — the handgun he used, another loaded handgun in his pocket, as well as two knives.
“We do believe he had the capacity to do much greater harm,” Cook told the Dallas News.
Police also don’t believe Jones knew Perez, which further indicates the suspect entered the bar to carry out multiple, random homicides.
“After he was struck once, the suspect started shooting at the front door,” Cook told the Arlington Voice. “We know people were trying to escape, but we’re not sure if he was just trying to harm others.”
Jones did not immediately begin shooting upon entering the premises. Witnesses say Jones began yelling incoherently as he was standing at the bar.
“People didn’t know who he was yelling at,” Cook said.
When Perez walked up and tried to pacify the Jones, the suspect drew his handgun and shot the bar manager.
The CHL holder, no doubt tracking the disturbance as it unfolded, wasted no time drawing his own handgun and firing at Jones.
More than a dozen customers and employees were in the bar at that time, and only one sustained minor injuries from glass shards as they were trying to escape.
Use of force and firearms expert Emanuel Kapelsohn told NBC News that, from his understanding, the man who took down the shooter reacted appropriately.
“I think it’s to be applauded,” he said. “Not everybody in the world ought to own a gun. Not everybody in the world ought to carry a gun. Not everyone in the world ought to engage an armed criminal where innocent people could be potentially injured.”
“But this good Samaritan obviously had the ability to do what he did,” Kapelsohn added. “Who knows how many people would be dead if he had not acted?”