MORTON, ILLINOIS — A quick-thinking elderly Army veteran managed to save a group of children from a crazed, knife-wielding pedophile in Morton, Illinois on Tuesday afternoon, according to a Pekin Times report.
James Vernon, a retired Caterpillar Inc. information technology worker and chess club teacher was in the midst of teaching a group of 16 children, aged 7 to 13, at Morton's public library when a man, wielding two large hunting knives, reportedly ran into the room screaming "I'm going to kill some people".
That man, 19-year-old Dustin Brown, was reportedly specifically targeting children. Free on bail while facing charges of the possession of child pornography, Brown had allegedly been planning the attack for two weeks.
"I failed my mission to kill everyone," Brown would later tell police, according to the Times.
Unluckily for him, James Vernon was there to stop the would-be murderer.
Vernon acted fast to save the children and directed the mad man's attention toward himself instead of the youngsters.
He positioned himself between Brown and the library's only exit and motioned the children to make a run for it.
With Brown's attention, and knives, squarely fixed on him, Vernon was left with no choice but to engage. So the Army vet relied on the knife-combat training he'd received nearly a half-century ago.
Based on the dual-wielding attacker's movements, Vernon determined he was right-handed and knowing where the first blow would come from, skillfully blocked the blade with his bare hands.
Vernon eventually pinned the attacker against a table and proceeded to pummel his collarbone until he dropped his remaining weapon.
Despite, in his words, "bleeding pretty good" Vernon escaped with far less damage than one would've expected, especially given the fact that he had engaged a man more than five decades and a half his junior.
Brown was promptly arrested when police arrived and is being held on an $800,000 bond. Here's hoping he doesn't make bail this time.
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