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NASHUA, NH – A bystander with a firearm intervened during a violent altercation involving a knife at a McDonald’s in Nashua, New Hampshire.
On Tuesday night, a fight broke out between two groups who police believe knew each other, and it quickly escalated when 22-year-old Jose Vasquez repeatedly stabbed a 32-year-old man multiple times in the face and abdomen.
Felix Marengo, a bystander eating in his car, witnessed the attack and intervened. He told WMUR reporter Maria Wilson, “A guy started getting stabbed. I got out of my car and took my handgun out. As soon as they saw that, the stabber started running behind Wendy.”
Vasquez surrendered to Nashua police the following day, and he was charged with first-degree assault. Vasquez’s attorney said the victim was the initial aggressor, so it will be interesting to see what the final charges will be.
If the person who got stabbed was the initial aggressor, there is a possibility the judge could determine Vasquez acted in self-defense.
Nashua police stated that additional charges may be filed, pending the outcome of their investigation.
This is a tricky situation for a concealed carry holder because unless you see an incident start, you don’t know who the real victim is and who the person who started it is.
Most news articles failed to mention that a bystander with a firearm stepped in to stop the altercation, and this is a perfect example of why cases of self-defense involving firearms are significantly underreported.
I hope there were/are some other witnesses who can establish who attacked whom. I would hope the man who pulled the pistol on the guy who was stabbing the victim, lived and could verify the order of events; or that there was another independent witness to the argument. Otherwise, it is a “he said’, “she said” type of situation. Perhaps the restaurant had a camera or perhaps some of the employees/customers in the restaurant, got a good look at the whole fight seiquence. Usually, however, when a CWP holder has to pull his/her firearm, it is because someone is attempting to do bodily harm to someone else and the one instigating the situation is usually the guilty. Usually CWP holders are well-trained so that they don’t instigate a life-threatening situation.