Ex-Marine Who Disarmed Armed Robber Speaks Out

An ex-Marine who heroically intervened during an armed robbery by snatching the gun from the would-be robber said 'instinct kicked in' during the incident. You can see how it unfolded here:

James Kilcer, 32, says he's lucky to be alive and believes he would have been shot had the gun not jammed.

Footage of the tense incident shows Kilcer lunge at the 14-year-old suspect - who had two men with him - before slapping the firearm away from himself and towards the back of the shop.

Kilcer said he was on his way to work at the Yuma County Sheriff's Department when he stopped at the petrol station and saw the teen walking in the door with a gun in his hand.

The former Marine says he didn't think twice about stepping in, despite the danger involved.

Kilcer told the Daily Mail: "S**t needed to be done.

'I kind of saw what was coming my way and just, you know, I wasn't gonna sit around and cry about it. And I just waited until he took that one extra step and - boom! - f***ing hit him and just instinct kicked in."

He believes he only survived the incident because the suspect was unable to fire the gun as it was jammed.

"It was really surreal," Kilcer said.

"Like, I counted in my head. As all this was happening at frickin' lightspeed I was counting trigger pulls, and I realised I was pulling a trigger, making attempts to pull the trigger, but everything was just jammed up."

After snatching the weapon from the boy, Kilcer says he attempted to fire it four times but it never went off.

He was eventually able to put pressure on the gun's slide, which then allowed him to fire off a round.

He explained: "I felt the round hit my hand and I'm like, 'Oh s**t'. So I locked the slide back and I look in my palm and it was a .22 in my palm."

Kilcer punched the suspect and believes he may have broken his nose. He was able to hold him down until police arrived, but the two other suspects fled the scene.

Although it could have had a deadly outcome, Kilcer said he would do it all over again.

He added: "Oh yeah, in a heartbeat. You have to do it."Featured Image Credit: Yuma County Sheriff's Office

Topics: US News, crime

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19