An unidentified West Virginia woman is being hailed as a hero after she drew a pistol and fatally shot a man who was firing into a crowd of people celebrating a graduation and birthday outside a Charleston apartment complex.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night, after 37-year-old Dennis Butler was confronted by partygoers for speeding through the complex while children were playing in the area. Police said Butler was agitated when he left the scene and came back a short time later with an AR-15-style rifle, which he began firing toward dozens of people at the party. The woman, who was attending the party, shot and killed Butler.
“This lady was carrying a lawful firearm, a law-abiding citizen who stopped the threat of probably 20-30 people being killed,” Charleston Police Department chief of detectives Tony Hazelett told reporters on Thursday. “She engaged the threat and stopped it. She didn’t run from the threat. She engaged it, preventing a mass casualty here in Charleston.”