Josh Dobbs didn’t set out to be a hero when he woke up early Saturday morning, but when he heard what sounded like a woman screaming for help outside his apartment door, he didn’t hesitate to respond. In doing so, the armed citizen may very well have saved the lives of two women and earned the praise of local police for his fast response.
Dobbs said he just jumped into action when he heard what he correctly assumed were a woman’s screams coming from the Hidden Lake Apartments.
Police said it turned out that two women had already been attacked, and Dobbs would just happen to step outside when the suspect began to stab a third victim.
One of the victims called the Union City Police for help.
“Officers responded to that location where they observed a female lying outside in between cars who had also been stabbed, as well as two subjects behind the apartment–the incident location. One had been stabbed, and it appeared the other one had been shot,” Prentice Brooks Union Police Department said.
Police said the person who was shot was the suspect accused of stabbing the women.
“As the male subject was assaulting these female subjects with the knife, an onlooker saw the assault taking place,” Cpt. Brooks said. “He stepped up and stopped the threat. He did shoot the suspect.”
Unfortunately, one of the three women assaulted by the attacker succumbed to her injuries, but it looks like the other two will recover, and police say it could have been much worse had Dobbs not intervened when he did.
“We actually commend him for what he did and stepping up,” the captain added.
The suspect was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.
“I have a daughter, and I have a lot of respect for females and everything, so I was just doing the right thing and stepping up,” Dobbs told FOX 5.
Police are still investigating the incident, but for now they said this seemed to be the result of a domestic dispute.
For whatever reason, Dobbs’ quick thinking and armed response has merited barely a blip in the local media. I haven’t been able to find any mention of the stabbings or the intervention by an armed citizen in the pages of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution or from any of the other Atlanta-area news stations beyond Fox 5’s initial reporting, despite the fact that defensive gun uses are generally covered pretty well by local media. In this case, however, the potentially life-saving actions taken by Dobbs apparently weren’t deemed newsworthy enough to cover, at least by most outlets.
Regardless of the media attention (or lack thereof), the heroism displayed by Dobbs should be recognized, and I’m glad to see that the local police are commending his courageous actions even if most news outlets have given it (and him) the silent treatment. Most of us exercise our Second Amendment rights because we want to protect ourselves, but as Dobbs amply demonstrated, responsible gun owners are more than willing to step in and defend others as well when lives are in danger and the police are nowhere to be found.