Patricia Maisch (61) Hailed as Hero for Disarming Arizona Shooting Gunman

[Turborama]

Source: CBS

TUCSON, Ariz. (CBS/KPHO/AP) Four people are being hailed as heroes after Saturday's mass shooting in Tucson that left six dead and 14 others wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Daniel Hernandez used his hands to stop the bleeding from congresswoman's head. Roger Salzgeber and Joseph Zamudio tackled the suspect, Jared Loughner. But it was a 61-year-old woman who grabbed the magazine and handgun from the gunman that witnesses said helped prevent further tragedy.

"It was one shot, and then a moment with nothing, and then a series of shots," Patricia Maisch, of Tucson, told CBS affiliate KPHO. "I saw him coming down the line of chairs there, in front of the Safeway, just shooting people." Two men tackled the gunman, but he could have done more damage. He still had the gun in his hand as he laid face-to-face with Maisch, she said.

"I was waiting to be shot, I was wondering how it was gonna feel to be shot," she told the station. Maisch said she didn't stop to think of her own safety, she didn't hesitate for a second.

"I immediately knelt up over him, because he was right there almost on top of me, and the gun was in his right hand," she said. She said she grabbed the 9mm handgun and the fully loaded magazine he took out of his pocket, disarming him before he could inflict more damage.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20027980-504083.html

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Patricia Maisch (CBS/KPHO)

Here she is telling Shepard Smith that "the extreme right has gone too far" (video)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x542187

:applause:

[bushisanidiot]

1. Well done!

too bad she didn't knee him in the nuts when she had the chance

[newspeak]

3. what a brave woman!!!

reminds me of an event that happened up in northern california--man escaped from jail and a senior woman was in her car, he stuck a gun at her and told her to get out-she refused and told him he'd have to shoot her-he got out of the car in disgust. Of course, he could have shot her, but what chutzpah!!!!

He could have killed even more people if she hadn't grabbed the clip!!! She's a hero in my book!!!!

[BlueMTexpat]

2. Let's hear it for "Silver Power" ...

and this brave lady is also humble. She herself credits the men who put the assassin on the ground first as the real heroes. It made it possible for her to grab the magazine that he dropped. Where she was also heroic is for getting someone to hold him down while she went to assist another wounded person.
There were several real "heroes" present on Saturday afternoon. The murderer was not one of them.
Without their actions, things could have been much, much worse.

[RamboLiberal]

7. Also 74 Year Old Former Lt. Col Bill Badger

Ret. Col.: Loughner Cried "You're Hurting Me!"

Shot and bleeding from the head, a retired Army colonel helped subdue the gunman who opened fire at a congresswoman's meet-and-greet in a Tucson grocery store Saturday.

Seventy-four-year-old Bill Badger was in a line of people waiting to greet Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords when the gunman - identified at 22-year-old Jared Loughner began the rampage that killed six people and wounded 19, including the congresswoman, who remains in critical condition.

"There was just a series of shots and I heard the shots and my first reaction was a firecracker, they were extremely loud," Badger told CBS affiliate KOLD in Tucson. "He'd already shot Representative Gabrielle Giffords and was shooting the people sitting in the chairs, coming right towards where I was standing. Everybody was hitting the sidewalk and I turned to my left and started to drop and I felt the stinging in the back of my head."

That sting was a bullet wound. But Badger pressed on.

"The shooting stopped and I raised up and didn't realize it, but he was right beside me. Right in front of me. And I got to my feet and one of the individuals who was there to see her was on the other side of the walkway, you know, right where he was walking and that individual took a folding chair, folded it and hit him on the back of the head and he moved his head forward so much of the blunt of it came right on the shoulders of his back and when they did that his left arm came out and it was my opportunity," Badger told KOLD.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/10/national/main7230550.shtml?tag=stack

[BlueMTexpat]

11. There's life in us "old'uns" yet! nt

[progressivebydesign]

4. She's further proof that women over a certain age are not useless.

She was so brave, as were the others that kept things from getting worse. I know the media is pushing her age as some sort of "angle," as if a 61 year old woman is too feeble or weak to do something like that. The media portrays everyone woman over 32 and over size 6, as useless and irrelevant. I guess it would make sense that people would find that it such a novelty that a 61 year old woman would actually do something physical and brave like that, if they've been led to believe that they're only good for portraying the woman with the plugged up toilet on tv, while the 32 year old super model has the toilet that works.

[tigereye]

21. exactly! Good for her.

[rasputin1952]

5. ...

:patriot:

[peace13]

6. Thank you Patricia.

When * was sending young men and women to Iraq I thought that we older women could go in and get the job done. All we need is a clear job and a good reason to do it and baby...it is done. This woman did what had to be done and I am so proud of her. Thanks goes out to her a million times over. Peace and love to you Patricia.

[trud]

8. Ginger Littleton, no spring chicken either

But I would like to make a small comment about a pet peeve of mine. A hero is someone who risks their life or limb to help. Being a decent person, like Daniel Hernandez, is not being a hero.

[Turborama]

9. That's your definition of "hero"

It can also just be someone who simply manages to save a life without "risking their life or limb".

I think people who work in ambulances are heroes for what they do, and they don't always "risk life and limb".

[catrose]

10. He wasn't risking life and limb?

He ploughed in before the shooting stopped to get to Giffords. He didn't know if he'd be shot too.

[BlueMTexpat]

12. In the circumstances as described, he fits even your definition. nt

[peace13]

14. Excuse me but if a person is helping at a bloody crime scene you can bet ...

that he or she is risking their own life. Being willing to get bloody is a true risk. Why would you want to demean Daniel in this manner? Praise to all who helped in this awful tragedy.

[forty6]

17. Hernandez not a hero? Risked his life to save another, amid threats of..

gunfire?

Let's ask the real questions:

WHY NOT?

He's Hispanic, He's gay, and he didn't suffer injury.

Let's stop at the first two. Reason enough for no one to be a hero. (sarcasm)

[trud]

24. forty6

Wow, seeing racism and homophobia everywhere aren't you?

He did Not risk life and limb. Calling decent people who in no way endanger themselves heroes demeans people who actually do risk everything.

Next, hero grocery store owner paints store.

[JI7]

18. such crap

[PfcHammer]

13. Loughner Cried "You're Hurting Me!"

:eyes:

[Vidar]

15. Brava Ms. Maisch!

[forty6]

16. She's a hero to me! I love hero's like this woman! K+R n/t

[CBHagman]

19. Nice to hear of these quick-thinking people.

A big thank-you to the citizens who took action in what must have been an unspeakably horrifying moment.

[forty6]

20. We have to remember that most Americans are not those we see on TV

They are ordinary people, who can do extraordinary things when they are called upon to do so.

[CBHagman]

22. I know what you mean.

It's easy to get a skewed perspective.

[defendandprotect]

23. Thank you Patricia Maisch -- !!