My Armed Take Down of a Drug Crazed Knife Wielding Would be Killer. Around 1980.

Me Deer Hunting the Alpine Around that Time. I had to pack a big buck 10 Kms.

My Armed Takedown of a Would be Knife Wielding Murderer in Squamish around 1980. Years ago when I was getting ready to go deer hunting, I had everything laid out on the bed ready to load up including my 30-30 Winchester and some bullets and had my fatigues on. My wife and young son and I lived in an Apartment quadrangle at the corner of Tantalus Way and Garibaldi Way. Jeff came running in saying, "Dad, Dad, there's a guy out there bugging the girls and he is trying to kill one". Jeff never fibbed except when he said my stomach was too big so I took it truthfully. I ran out in fatigues and saw neighbors outside who said a big guy with a knife grabbed a girl by the leg and dragged her over the balcony into that apartment. I yelled "Call the Cops" and went for my rifle loading up as I crossed the quadrangle thinking time is of the essence. I went through the door and saw him standing behind her, a tiny red head in baby dolls, kneeling on the bed bleeding from the neck. She had two cuts, neither arterial. He had her by the hair. I saw his eyes were blurred by drugs so ordered him away from the girl and to get out of the apartment. I could have shot him easily but didn't want to cause I didn't see the knife. She said he has a knife in his pocket and his left hand was in that pocket. He grabbed her in a headlock and started out the door and I backed away to let him. When he passed me and had his back to me the knife came out towards her neck and I instinctively swung the butt and hit him over the head breaking the stalk. Frank, the young landlord had come in at that time and jumped on the knife arm. The blow stunned the Perp but he didn't go down so I whacked him again this time end on with the butt and down he went. I told him not to move but he was out at that time still clutching the knife loosely though. A neighbor who witnessed this through the doorway ran in and grabbed the girl and took her to safety. I held him there at gunpoint for a few minutes til I was able to hand control to a cop. He had a large gash on the back of his head where I opened his scalp. An RCMP member came through the door and a neighbor yelled don't shoot him, he's a good guy. He took the knife out of his hand and cuffed the Perp and took him to the cruiser and took a statement from me and the neighbors. He got charged with attempted murder to which he pleaded guilty. Apparently he was a chokerman on a logging crew who was doing angel dust and heroin and she, being a young mom with a baby decided she wanted none of it, flushed his stash down the toilet. I walked out into the courtyard with the rifle over my arm unloading to the cheers of a pile of kids who had gathered. One of them was my son yelling "Thats my Dad. He's a Hero". I gave the kids a lecture never to use drugs cause you can see how much trouble it can cause. I was trained as an infantry soldier so this was no big deal for me. I saw it as my civic duty to save a maiden in distress. If we had waited for the cops, she might be dead. Cops I talked to later told me they would have shot him in that situation so I saved his life, her life and risked mine cause the loaded lever action rifle was pointed at my chest when I clobbered him with only a squeeze or a bump to set it off. When push comes to shove, I'd rather not kill a guy if I didn't absolutely have to. My Dad had to do a lot of that in the Finnish Wars and it didn't leave a good taste in his mouth. We citizens are often the first responders to life or death drama and whether we choose to help or wait for others can mean the difference between life or death. It was the best story of the day in Canada and never even made the local newspapers and I never got any acknowledgement of it from anybody or any thanks. Copyright 2012 Jorma Jyrkkanen. All rights reserved. Tags: attempted murder, perpetrator, drugs, apprehended, crime, Squamish, BC, Jorma Jyrkkanen