A knife-wielding man was shot to death Friday by a Los Angeles homeowner.
The homeowner was in the front yard of his home in the 500 block of East Avenue 28 in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles at about 9:40 p.m. when an individual approached him, according to KABC-TV.
Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department said the homeowner was approached by a man with a knife when he allegedly lunged at the homeowner.
The homeowner was armed and fired at the man, hitting him.
The man who attacked the homeowner fled, but only made it about a quarter-mile before he collapsed and then died, police said, according to KTLA-TV.
The homeowner was not injured.
KABC quoted a woman the station said was a witness as saying she heard “like seven shots.”
She claimed that her sister heard the man who was shot cry out “they got me.”
KABC said the witness is disgusted with the violence in the area.
“You just duck for your life. That’s what you have to do,” she said, saying residents must always be “on alert.”
The man who was killed was later identified as Jonathan Hue, 27, of West Covina, according to MyNewsLA.
Neighbor Jose Vasquez said the homeowner did what he had to do, according to KCBS-TV.
“I think he acted to defend himself,” Vasquez said. “Cops aren’t going to get here on time. You have to react to that.”
KCBS reported that the incident was not gang-related.
Across America, homeowners rely upon the Second Amendment for protection, as noted by Amy Swearer in an Op-Ed for the Heritage Foundation.
“The right to keep and bear arms is based on the natural, immutable right to defend oneself and one’s liberties from crime and tyranny,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, too many well-intentioned people today advocate severely restricting the ability of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves and others with the most effective firearms.”
“They believe that Americans rarely use firearms to protect their rights and liberties, and they think commonly proposed gun control laws will meaningfully address gun-related violence. But the reality is quite different,” she wrote.
“Americans use guns in self-defense on far more occasions than criminals use them to commit crimes. Yet those defensive gun uses rarely receive the amount of attention given to criminal gun uses,” she said, calling everyday Americans who defend their homes “underreported good guys using a gun.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.