The Unthinkable
August 20th, 2008 by Syd
Sometimes the good guys don’t win. Xavier first reported on this tragedy. A couple of years ago, I reported on these: When Being A Good Guy Isn’t Enough. These are stories of good guys with CCW permits who took on bad guys, saved some lives, but died in the process. The unthinkable sometimes happens:
A man who was shot and later died after defending his girlfriend during an attempted robbery at a Lufkin restaurant Sunday night was a "true hero," a manager said Monday.
Keith Edward Labrozzi II, 24, of Lufkin, died at a local hospital after being shot multiple times by a man attempting to rob his girlfriend, manager Katherine Lynn Jeffreys, 23, outside David Beard’s Catfish King, 806 S. Medford Drive, at 10:36 p.m. Sunday. Jeffreys, who was shot through the ankle, is recovering at a local hospital, said Pam Minefee, another manager. The couple has two children together, ages 3 and 1.
Lufkin Police early Monday were investigating an alleged attempted robbery and shooting that occurred at Catfish King at 10:36 p.m. Sunday.
"He was a true hero," Minefee said. "He saved his girlfriend’s life and possibly others who would have been here."
Source: LufkinDailyNes.com
Mr. Labrozzi was in an untenable position: the woman he loved, with whom he had two children, was already down with a leg wound. He had no choice but to throw down and defend her. He landed a hit which ultimately disabled the bad guy, but the bad guy landed more, and Mr. Labrozzi died. “No man hath greater love…”
Looking at a situation like this, discussions of calibers and tactics are crude and stupid. It doesn’t matter. Maybe if Mr. Labrozzi had wielded a SAW, he would have prevailed, but there are no guarantees. A brave man gave his life for another. That’s the story. Nothing more.
Buy a bigger gun? Sign up for more classes? Sure. Maybe. But as the old proverb goes, “All skill is in vain when the angel blows the powder from your flintlock.” The warrior neither loves life too much, nor fears death. That’s bushido. That’s part of “this thing of ours,” the unthinkable.
Tonight, I’m praying for Keith Edward Labrozzi, a hero.