Customers at a Walmart in South Carolina were able to continue shopping safely, thanks to a quick-thinking veteran.
On January 4, witnesses at the Columbia-based Walmart were alerted after an assailant started threatening customers with a knife, demanding $20, at the self-checkout counters. Officials were called to the scene for assistance but customers, including U.S. veteran Demario Davis, decided to take matters into their own hands.
Davis told Fox News Digital that it was his son who first noticed the man. Before springing into action, Davis asked an employee about security. She responded with “I am security,” Davis said. He remembered hearing the man terrorizing customers and employees, yelling “when the cops get here I’m going to start cutting you all up.”
Shortly after, another customer attempted to subdue the assailant but failed after he was almost cut in the face.
An employee captured the whole thing on video and posted it on YouTube. In the video, Davis knocks the man on top of the head, forcing him to drop the knife. “That’s when my military training kicked in, and I casually walked over to the object not only to take him down but also protect myself in case I failed. But with my great military training I was able to neutralize the threat until law enforcement arrived,” Davis told Fox News.
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The celebrated veteran credited his basic training for him knowing what to do. “Once I saw him swinging it, you know I’m a veteran and we’re trained on stuff like that in basic training for situations like that,” Davis said.
Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrived after the incident and told WIS News 10 that the knife-wielding disruptor was arrested and taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
While some may call Davis a hero, he doesn’t look at it that way. “I’m a community person, so if I see something in the community that’s not right, with all the violence and things and attacks going on, gun violence you know, you want your people in the community to step up as well,” Davis said.
According to WIS News 10, no immediate charges have been filed.