U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Crime happens anywhere and anytime. It was almost time to leave the office when an apartment manager at an upscale condominium complex defended her child. It is common for an apartment/condominium building to have some of its staff live in the complex. That means the staff is available to residents and apartment shoppers at all hours. The complex is their home. We don’t know where she lived, but this apartment manager, Shay Lindberg, had her young son with her at work at that moment.
The Hubbell Tower apartments are one of many older industrial buildings that have been converted into housing. The apartment/condominium complex is connected to downtown by an elevated and enclosed walkway. The “skywalk” is over four miles long and connects 55 buildings in downtown Des Moines. The fact that all of downtown is outside your front door works both ways. Residents and staff have access to downtown. Anyone downtown also has access to your front door.
The manager at the Hubbell Tower Apartments was about to leave her office when she noticed a couple walking back and forth in front of her office window. Tours of the complex are only by appointment. The woman in the couple waved to her. Lindberg, the apartment manager, opened her office door to ask if the couple needed help. The man in the couple didn’t say anything, but the woman said to give her back her child. The strange woman grabbed Lindberg’s son and tried to leave with him.
News reports are unclear if Lindberg was holding her son’s hand when she opened her office door. We know she grabbed her son before the stranger could leave with him. We also know that Lindberg was armed.
The armed mom presented her handgun and shouted, “Let go of my kid!“ The stranger let go, and the armed mom did not shoot.
Lindberg retreated to safety with her child. She also called the police. Then she called a security guard who patrols the skywalk. The security guard recognized the woman who tried to abduct the child. He quickly located the couple. The guard followed them through a restaurant and onto a bus as he called the police. Police quickly arrested the couple.
The couple was charged with felony child stealing. The woman is also charged with violating her probation. The couple is homeless, and there is a homeless shelter nearby. The security guard first noticed them when they tried to set up camp on the skywalk. The couple is held pending a 50-thousand dollar cash bond. The lessons are obvious.
- Our locked doors protect our children from strangers.
- On-body carry provides immediate access to a firearm.
- An armed mom can stop two grown adults from taking her child.
- Sometimes verbal commands de-escalate a threat.
- Knowing our neighbors at home and at work means we can easily summon help.
We don’t talk about child abduction very often in concealed carry classes, but that topic does come up in classes for the victims of domestic violence. A stranger who grabs your child and tries to walk away with them poses an immediate, lethal, and unavoidable threat. That threat is part of the legal justification to use lethal force as you secure your child’s safety.
In this case, presenting her firearm and shouting, “Let go of my kid!“ was enough to stop the abduction. Knowing the local security guard was enough to secure the arrest of the attackers.
This story is one of many stories that go under-reported by the mainstream media because it shows a positive image of a law-abiding gun owner defending their life and their family. It is our responsibility at AmmoLand to report these stories to you. While we will continue to report these stories, groups like the Crime Prevention Research Center, led by Dr. John Lott, are fastidious in studying the use of firearms for self-defense. Stay up to date with all news on self-defense by following CPRC and Ammoland.
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About Rob Morse
Rob Morse writes about gun rights at Ammoland, at Clash Daily, at Second Call Defense, and on his SlowFacts blog. He hosts the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society Podcast. Rob was an NRA pistol instructor and combat handgun competitor.