The off-duty Border Patrol agent who chased the shooter from Congregation Chabad of Poway on Saturday also ran towards the gunfire when a U.S. military veteran – who had been asked by Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein to please come armed to synagogue when he came to pray, ‘just in case’ – rushed the attacker that morning.
Oscar Stewart tells the tale of that nightmare, when the shooter’s gun jammed and he tried to escape; how he engaged the attacker and kept him moving away from more potential victims, out the door and away from the building.
During the Synagogue Shooting, this man ran toward the gunfire and chased off the shooter.
As the shooter tried to escape, a Border Patrol agent engaged the shooter & prevented him from continuing his terror.
Remember the names of heroes like Oscar Stewart, not the shooter! pic.twitter.com/QxITVcklBQ
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL)
Miraculously, the shooter’s gun jammed after his initial attack, giving the two military men an advantage as they fought to distract the gunman and redirect him away from other potential victims.
Stewart pursued the attacker as he fled the building, working to ensure that he would not attempt to open fire at anyone else, and pressuring him to leave altogether.
Police caught up with the suspect about a mile away.