A good guy with a gun is the best antidote to a bad guy with a gun — especially when that good guy is a state trooper.
Now, the district attorney responsible for handling the case has made it clear the trooper’s use of deadly force was justified, considering that he had just been shot with a round stopped by his ballistic vest.
According to WLOS-TV, the shooting happened along Interstate 26 in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 3.
Trooper Jeffrey Dunlap had stopped to assist what appeared to be a stranded motorist. The motorist — later identified as Wesley Taylor, 57 — then brandished a gun and shot Dunlap in the chest.
Dunlap was able to return fire, killing Taylor.
The trooper, a 13-year veteran of the force, was taken to a local hospital for observation and subsequently released, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
The reason for the attack is not known. A July 7 report from WLOS indicated that Taylor only had “traffic citations and violations” in North Carolina, as well as a charge of driving while impaired from 2012 — but that charge had been dismissed at the time.
However, it was a different matter in Kentucky, where, WLOS reported, “between 1984-1990, Taylor was found guilty of charges ranging from aggravated assault, fugitive warrants, forcible sex offenses, and burglary, for which he served time.”
On Tuesday, Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams said in a statement that no charges would be filed against Dunlap and that his use of deadly force was lawful.
“I find that Trooper Dunlap was legally justified to use deadly force against Taylor who shot Trooper Dunlap in the chest at close range with a .44 Magnum semi-automatic pistol,” Williams said in a statement.
“No criminal charges will be filed in this matter and the [North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation] may close this investigation.”
“Trooper Dunlap was legally justified to use deadly force . . . [n]o criminal charges will be filed in this matter and the NC SBI may close this investigation.” – DA Todd Williams.
Do police departments need more funding?See the attached statement for more information.
prior reporting:https://t.co/naop6erT2K pic.twitter.com/RH42LlaUpt
— Buncombe County DA (@BuncombeCoDA) July 11, 2023
Also, lest you think this is some hard-on-crime district attorney laying down the law and holding the thin blue line here, keep in mind that Williams is a Democrat serving in one of the more liberal corners of the state — one where the county commissioners have endorsed a resolution calling for reparations for black people.
The biggest city, Asheville — where the shooting happened — is also a notorious leftie/hippie hotspot. In other words, when the DA says there’s nothing to investigate here, there’s nothing to investigate here.
As for Taylor, we’ll never know what kind of lunacy made him pull a gun on a state trooper. We can only be thankful that Dunlap was wearing enough body armor to stop the round.
It’s a reminder of why we need well-funded police officers, not desiccated police departments strongarmed by “defund” units into shifting money to “mental health experts” and other forms of intervention to deal with crime.
Will a mental health expert have enough body armor to stop a .44 Magnum bullet? Will they be able to “de-escalate” a situation with a shooter like Taylor?
Of course not. But that’s what the defunders would have you believe. In their utopia, someone might be able to reason with Taylor. Just back away, man. Give the guy waving the high-caliber handgun a little space.
We may never know what motivated Taylor to shoot a police officer — but thank heavens Dunlap had the equipment to stay alive and the training to shoot back and ensure Taylor never pulls that handgun on another living soul.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
