SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING THAT STOPS A BAD GUY WITH A GUN IS A GOOD GUY WITH A GUN.

By Bob Walsh

There was a shooting in the visiting lobby at the Fresno County, CA, jail on Saturday morning that left two correctional officers in critical condition.

An ex-felon, Thong Vang, showed up there allegedly to visit a prisoner but was acting very strange. (In a jail visiting rom “strange” is a relative concept.) When he tried to cut to the front of the line he was approached by Correctional Officer Juanita Davila. Vang pulled a gun and shot her in the head. He also shot Officer Tomalanma Scanian in the head. Fresno County Correctional Officers are not peace officers and are not armed. At some point an armed Lieutenant showed up and engaged Vang, who was injured and then surrendered. It is not immediately clear if the Lieutenant shot him or if the other visitors kicked the shit out of him for trying to jump the line and messing up their visiting day.

Both officers are in critical condition.

EDITOR’S NOTE: According to the LA Times, the good guy with a gun missed the bad guy with a gun, which is not unusual when cops get in a real-life shootout as opposed to shooting at a stationary firing range target that is incapable of shooting back.

I suppose you could say the bad guy did give up because the good guy had a gun, but I did not read that into the story. See the LA Times story below:

TWO CALIFORNIA CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN JAIL LOBBY SHOOTING

By Emily Alpert Reyes

Los Angeles Times
September 3, 2016

FRESNO COUNTY, California -- A Fresno, Calif., man was taken into custody Saturday after shooting two correctional officers in the lobby of the Fresno County Jail.

Thong Vang, 37, entered the jail lobby shortly after 8:30 a.m. Saturday, saying he wanted to visit someone and trying to get to the front of the line, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims told reporters. When he was ordered to wait his turn, Vang began to exhibit “bizarre behavior,” pacing back and forth around the lobby, Mims said.

During the confrontation that ensued, Vang pulled out a gun and shot correctional officers Juanita Davila and Toamalama Scanlan, neither of whom were armed, Mims said.

Another correctional officer fired several shots at Vang, who then retreated into a hallway before ultimately dropping his weapon and saying that he wanted to be arrested, Mims said. Vang, who had been previously convicted of rape, was held at gunpoint while the two injured officers were pulled out of the lobby to ambulances outside.

The wounded officers were taken to a regional medical center, where both were scheduled to undergo surgery. Each suffered a single gunshot “in the head and neck area,” the sheriff said.

Davila also suffered a broken jaw and was listed in critical but stable condition; Scanlan was in critical condition, Mims said Saturday afternoon.

Mims said Vang had cuts and scrapes and had been Tased at some point during the struggle, but he was not hit by any gunfire.

The Fresno parolee had been released two years ago after serving 16 years for rape with gang enhancements, the sheriff said, a conviction tied to a notorious case in which gang members kidnapped and raped three young girls. It is unclear who he was seeking to visit at the jail or whether he was planning to visit anyone.

“He will be held accountable for what he did,” the sheriff told reporters at a news conference Saturday.

In reaction to questions about security, Mims said there are two metal detectors that visitors must pass through before entering secure areas of the jail, but the lobby itself is a public area. More than a dozen other people were in the lobby Saturday morning when Vang entered, including four or five small children.

Christy Rodriguez told The Fresno Bee that she hid in a bathroom stall after hearing gunshots. “I just couldn’t believe this was happening,” Rodriguez told the Bee.

The Fresno County Jail was on lockdown Saturday afternoon and no inmate visits were being allowed.