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Gun-toting dad who thwarted mass shooting despite being shot in head now training others on self-defense
[FoxNews] Concealed-carry holder became certified NRA instructor last month.One year ago on July 3, Arizona resident and concealed-carry holder Raul Mendez and his family were enjoying a Fourth of July party before shots rang out and left their lives changed forever. Mendez was shot in the head as suspect Jason Hunt opened fire on the partygoers, leaving two men dead and four others, including Mendez, seriously injured. The rampage ended when Mendez was able to gather the strength to pick himself off the floor, unholster his concealed-carry weapon and shoot Hunt four times in the chest. "It's still something that's unreal," Mendez told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week. "It's kind of like, now we know what's out there. And you always see it on the news that this happened, that happened … but you never think it's going to happen to you." "It's always like, 'Oh, this happened, that's horrible,'" he added. "But then life goes on because, you know, it's never happened to you and never really think about that it's going happen to you." Mendez recounted to Fox News Digital that he was attending a party with his two daughters and seven-months pregnant wife with friends and other families to celebrate the founding of America at a home in Surprise, Arizona. About 30 people were gathered in the home, including young children, as the group celebrated with fireworks and food, Mendez previously told Fox. Surprise is a quiet Arizona town, Mendez said, which is located next to Sun City West, one of Arizona’s largest retirement communities. A neighbor of the man hosting the party soon joined and mingled with the group despite not being close friends with anyone there, according to Mendez. That neighbor was later identified by police as 46-year-old Jason Hunt, the sole suspect in the case who opened fire unprovoked on the families and partiers, police said last year, according to the Arizona Republic. Hunt and other partiers were grabbing food from the kitchen when the suspect pulled out a gun and began firing on the crowd, sending everyone fleeing, according to Mendez. Mendez was shot in the head in front of his wife, who rushed to his side and believed he was dead due to the amount of blood covering his face. She then grabbed their two daughters and put them into a room deeper in the house, barricading them and other children inside. Two other women in the home tried to fight Hunt while Mendez’s wife protected five children barricaded in a closet. The women called to Mendez hoping he was still alive as they knew he had a concealed-carry weapon. "By the glory of God or the adrenaline and just everything, just the will to live and the will to protect my family, I was able to hear those pleas, those yells for help," he said after the shooting. "I heard my name. And I was able to get up." Hunt was thwarted and police later said Mendez was "acting in self-defense and defense of other innocent parties."
Mendez lost his left eye, fractured his jaw, suffered a torn eardrum and lost his sense of smell because of the shooting, but he said he has been on the mend since. Following the carnage, Mendez is now taking his experience to help train others to defend themselves and embrace their Second Amendment rights. He became a certified NRA (National Rifle Association) instructor last month and is preparing to lead classes by teaching his immediate friends and family about gun safety. Posted by: Skidmark 2023-06-28 |
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