On Thursday, police in the Atlanta suburb of Covington got that helping hand from an armed citizen who stepped up and apprehended an inmate who was on the lam.
The Covington Police Department and Newton County Sheriff’s office were called out for a brazen escape from a city work detail at about 5 p.m. Authorities report that Tyler Morgan managed to gain about 90 minutes of freedom when he drove off in one of the CPD’s unmarked gray Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars.
The car was not in service at the time.
According to records, Morgan was arrested last September and charged with theft by shoplifting and willful obstruction of law enforcement. He was incarcerated most recently in February on a probation violation charge and was working off his sentence Thursday when he made a break for it.
The reaction was immediate and widespread, and agencies deployed a helicopter in their search for Morgan.
Morgan at some point decided the better choice than driving around Newton County in an obviously unmarked police car was to ditch the vehicle and make his way to freedom on foot.
This change of plan worked for a short while, until his luck ran out. That was because he was spotted by an armed good guy who obviously was aware that there was a manhunt underway for a fugitive. This concerned citizen sprang into action and apprehended Morgan, holding him at gunpoint until authorities arrived on the scene to handcuff him and take him back into custody.
Undoubtedly it will be some time before he is granted another chance to work outside.
Caitlin Jett of the Newton County Sheriff’s Office reported the citizen’s heroic actions and thanked him for stepping up. She expressed the department’s gratitude for area agencies who assisted and “the community for getting involved and helping us catch him.”
These tales of heroism by citizens who care enough to exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms and are brave enough to act when needed are heartwarming. In Covington on Thursday, the potentially violent situation ended peacefully.
The same could not be said for a violent encounter in Texas two days earlier.
On Tuesday, an alleged intruder in the early morning hours entered an Austin duplex. A female resident heard the person attempting to break into the residence and called police. In the aftermath of the frightening incident, she told the dispatcher that the suspect was trying to get inside through a window. But while she was on the phone with law enforcement, the violent criminal was able to gain entry.
It was then that a male resident of the home shot the intruder.
When Austin Police Department officers arrived, they found the dead body of the alleged intruder waiting for them. Neither of the occupants of the duplex were injured in the tragic incident.
An APD spokesperson said afterwards that “when somebody unlawfully and with force tries to enter an occupied residence, the self-defense law is very clear in the Texas penal code.”
Investigators do not believe the deceased intruder knew the residents of the duplex.
The examples of law-abiding citizens taking up arms to protect life and property are endless. And while the corporate media likes nothing more than to highlight gun violence and paint a picture in favor of gun control, it is those very guns that many times are called upon by good guys to save the day.
