An armed mom pulled a gun from her handbag and fatally shot a man who had pulled a gun on a group of mothers with young children who had come together for a Mother’s Day celebration — and the entire incident was caught on video.
The graphic video went viral this week, earning praise for the mom who bravely confronted the gunman. As the New York Post noted, the incident took place outside a school in Brazil, where a group of mothers were gathered with their young children for a Mother’s Day celebration.
The video does not the fully capture audio of the conflict, but shows a mother and her young child hurrying away from someone. Seconds later, a man who had been following the pair appears on camera, raising a gun and trying to grab either the mother or the girl.
That was when the armed mom stepped in, pulling a handgun out of her bag and firing a round into the assailant’s chest. The man fell backward into the street and the quick-thinking mom kicked away his gun while subduing the man. Local reports indicated that the man was taken to a nearby hospital, but died of the gunshot wound.
As the Washington Post reported, the mom is earning plenty of praise — though it may not be entirely unexpected that she would confront the armed man and stop the potential robbery and attack. The woman, Katia Sastre, is a police officer in the city of Sao Paolo and was carrying her police weapon at the time of the attempted robbery.
Sastre earned some praise from local officials, including the governor of Sao Paolo who presented the woman with flowers in an event to acknowledge her heroic actions.
Fui hoje cedo ao 4°BAEP , na zona Leste de São Paulo, para homenagear uma mãe muito especial: Cabo Katia Sastre. Sua coragem e precisão salvou mães e crianças, ontem na porta de uma escola. #PMSP #PoliciaMilitar #VcPodeConfiar #EstadodeSãoPaulo #GovernodeSP pic.twitter.com/Vi643s1M3e
— Márcio França (@marciofrancagov) May 13, 2018
Video of the armed mom confronting the gunman gained some viral attention this weekend, spreading across social media and topping the link-sharing site Reddit. Many praised the woman for her actions, which saved the lives of the group of mothers and children who had been standing in front of the school.
The video of the armed mom killing the gunman can be seen here (be warned that it contains some images that could be disturbing to some viewers).