A California Marine Corps veteran is dead after bravely standing up to an armed robber outside a Vallejo restaurant.
Robert Sundin, 70, was shot dead when he intervened to stop a gunman from robbing a waitress on Dec. 8, according to KTVU-TV.
Sundin, a regular patron of the restaurant, snapped into action when he saw a ski-masked man confront server Teresa Brasher as she was getting out of her car to head into work.
When Sundin saw the suspicious character gesturing at Brasher’s purse, he acted in a fashion that showed he hadn’t lost an ounce of his courage.
Brasher said Sundin approached the suspect and attempted to de-escalate the situation. The suspect grabbed him, and Brasher heard a gunshot before the cowardly masked man fled.
Sundin died at the scene.
“He saved my life. That’s the type of person he was,” Brasher said of Sundin. “He’s always going to be my guardian angel for life. … He’s my hero. He’ll always be my hero.”
“God wasn’t ready for me,” Brasher added. “They had a place for Bob up there.”
Those who knew Sundin described him as a fixture of his community.
He worked in the Veterans Affairs health care system and volunteered at First Assembly of God, a church in nearby Fairfield.
“If there was a need he saw at the church, he met it,” pastor Eric Lura said. “He was the first person to arrive and last to leave.”
The shooting is under investigation, according to the Vallejo Times Herald. It did not appear an arrest had been made in connection to the case as of Saturday.
Perhaps it’s fitting to consider one of Christ’s teachings in light of this Marine’s actions.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends,” Jesus told his disciples in John 15:13.
Through his selfless actions, Sundin demonstrated the love that Christ spoke of.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.