1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:03,750 The NRA members, law enforcement 2 00:00:03,850 --> 00:00:04,750 aren't afraid of our guns. 3 00:00:05,850 --> 00:00:06,750 They're not afraid 4 00:00:06,850 --> 00:00:07,750 of our, 5 00:00:07,850 --> 00:00:08,750 and that 6 00:00:08,850 --> 00:00:09,750 became evident 7 00:00:09,850 --> 00:00:10,750 when I put that rifle 8 00:00:10,850 --> 00:00:12,250 down on the hood of the 9 00:00:12,350 --> 00:00:14,050 truck and started walking 10 00:00:14,150 --> 00:00:15,850 back and he said, "not you!" 11 00:00:16,350 --> 00:00:17,750 Okay, fine. 12 00:00:18,350 --> 00:00:22,150 Training kicks in and a small town hero 13 00:00:22,250 --> 00:00:24,150 becomes a comfort to those in mourning. 14 00:00:24,250 --> 00:00:25,950 I'm Grant Stinchfield for NRATV. 15 00:00:26,050 --> 00:00:28,250 We've got an exclusive extended interview 16 00:00:28,350 --> 00:00:30,550 with Stephen Willeford. He was gracious enough 17 00:00:30,650 --> 00:00:32,850 to let us into his home to talk about 18 00:00:32,950 --> 00:00:34,750 the horrific events that unfolded 19 00:00:34,850 --> 00:00:37,050 before his eyes. How the community 20 00:00:37,050 --> 00:00:38,650 has come together in the wake 21 00:00:38,750 --> 00:00:40,350 of senseless violence and 22 00:00:40,350 --> 00:00:42,150 evil, and how his actions that 23 00:00:42,150 --> 00:00:44,550 saved so many surprised even himself. 24 00:00:44,650 --> 00:00:48,050 It turned out to be a battle of good vs. evil. 25 00:00:48,050 --> 00:00:50,710 A gun battle, actually, outside of that church in 26 00:00:50,710 --> 00:00:53,920 Sutherland Springs, Texas. Stephen Willeford would 27 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,160 come face to face with a killer. He had no idea 28 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,060 inside that House of worship, the monster who 29 00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:03,440 pointed a gun at him just killed 26 people and 30 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,870 wounded 20 more but Willeford had a gun too, 31 00:01:06,870 --> 00:01:09,800 an AR-15, and Willeford was trained to use it. 32 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,190 He's an NRA instructor, long time NRA 33 00:01:13,190 --> 00:01:16,590 member, a man who knew his firearm and his 34 00:01:16,590 --> 00:01:19,890 training were the tools to stop the rampage. His 35 00:01:19,890 --> 00:01:23,170 life and the lives of so many more depended on 36 00:01:23,170 --> 00:01:27,030 what he did next, and what he did next is heroic. 37 00:01:27,030 --> 00:01:31,010 NRATV sat down with Stephen Willeford in his home. 38 00:01:31,010 --> 00:01:33,960 We spent the evening with him. He told his story. 39 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:36,130 The one the mainstream media doesn't want to 40 00:01:36,130 --> 00:01:39,940 hear. A good guy with a gun stopped a bad one. 41 00:01:39,940 --> 00:01:42,290 Here's a portion of our exclusive interview. 42 00:01:42,290 --> 00:01:43,820 I had my gun. 43 00:01:43,820 --> 00:01:47,930 I hadn't, it was locked in the safe 44 00:01:47,930 --> 00:01:49,200 but 45 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,180 You know when my daughter ran in and said 46 00:01:51,180 --> 00:01:53,260 the man was in 47 00:01:53,260 --> 00:01:56,100 tactical gear with a helmet 48 00:01:56,100 --> 00:01:56,990 and 49 00:01:56,990 --> 00:01:59,330 body armor 50 00:01:59,330 --> 00:02:02,080 I, when I opened up the safe, I pulled 51 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,160 out an AR-15. 52 00:02:08,180 --> 00:02:11,810 An AR-15 is much easier to handle 53 00:02:11,810 --> 00:02:15,510 and much easier to aim. 54 00:02:15,510 --> 00:02:17,570 and 55 00:02:17,570 --> 00:02:22,070 um, I grabbed a handful of ammunition. I didn't want to, 56 00:02:22,070 --> 00:02:25,410 I was hearing shot after shot after shot and I 57 00:02:25,410 --> 00:02:29,220 didn't want to waste time loading a full magazine so I just grabbed 58 00:02:29,220 --> 00:02:33,180 a handful and ran and started loading the magazine as I was 59 00:02:33,180 --> 00:02:35,680 running out the door. 60 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,630 You hadn't seen anything yet though? I had 61 00:02:37,630 --> 00:02:40,400 not seen anything but my daughter 62 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:41,700 had 63 00:02:41,700 --> 00:02:44,680 taken her car and drove down to the corner to 64 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,430 figure out what the the sounds were and she was 65 00:02:48,430 --> 00:02:51,850 right down by the church in her car and she saw 66 00:02:51,850 --> 00:02:55,360 him shooting and she came back in the house and said 67 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,540 There's a man in black tactical gear shootin' up 68 00:02:58,540 --> 00:03:02,040 the baptist church. 69 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,720 Those people are my friends. 70 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,870 Those people 71 00:03:07,870 --> 00:03:09,630 have known my family. 72 00:03:09,630 --> 00:03:14,930 Those people have been here for generations. 73 00:03:18,820 --> 00:03:23,940 I am, I kept hearing those shots 74 00:03:23,940 --> 00:03:27,990 and I knew every shot might be representing 75 00:03:27,990 --> 00:03:32,250 another person getting hit by a bullet. 76 00:03:33,790 --> 00:03:37,230 And I didn't take time to put shoes on even I ran out 77 00:03:37,230 --> 00:03:38,720 the door, 78 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,600 and I ran across the street. 79 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,920 And as I approached the neighbor's house, 80 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,100 I saw this gray SUV setting out front 81 00:03:49,100 --> 00:03:51,810 in the street 82 00:03:51,810 --> 00:03:55,720 with the engine running and the driver side door 83 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,510 open. 84 00:03:57,510 --> 00:04:00,900 And I still at that point was looking for someone 85 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:03,470 and trying to survey a situation. 86 00:04:03,470 --> 00:04:07,800 I positioned myself behind a pick-up truck and I 87 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,170 as soon as I came up behind the pick-up truck, 88 00:04:11,170 --> 00:04:13,500 it was the neighbors truck, 89 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:15,530 He came running 90 00:04:15,530 --> 00:04:17,530 from around the front of the 91 00:04:17,530 --> 00:04:18,860 SUV 92 00:04:18,860 --> 00:04:22,400 and turned to get in 93 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,210 to the SUV. 94 00:04:25,210 --> 00:04:29,860 and when he turned to get in the SUV, 95 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:34,420 all I saw he had a pistol in one hand 96 00:04:34,420 --> 00:04:37,280 and I saw a bullet proof vest and I couldn't tell 97 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:40,400 anything about him. The way he looked or anything 98 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,800 else. Because he had a helmet and a dark seal that 99 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,980 was all I could tell, and I 100 00:04:48,050 --> 00:04:50,900 He saw me, 101 00:04:50,900 --> 00:04:54,850 and we exchanged gun fire. 102 00:04:54,900 --> 00:04:57,240 and 103 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,810 he got in his vehicle and he shot 104 00:05:00,810 --> 00:05:03,900 two rounds through the side window and I saw very 105 00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:09,240 distinctively two rounds come through the window 106 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:14,530 and I shot through the window with my rifle 107 00:05:14,530 --> 00:05:17,420 and the window collapsed down when I did. 108 00:05:17,420 --> 00:05:20,240 And I took another shot. 109 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,080 And he 110 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:28,080 drove off and turned down 539, 111 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:33,270 and I looked to the left and I saw a 112 00:05:33,270 --> 00:05:37,540 another man in a pick-up truck and I didn't know him 113 00:05:37,540 --> 00:05:39,710 or anything else, but he had been parked at the 114 00:05:39,710 --> 00:05:42,290 stop sign and saw the whole thing. 115 00:05:42,290 --> 00:05:44,980 I ran over and tapped on his window and I said 116 00:05:44,980 --> 00:05:48,620 that man just shot up the baptist church and we 117 00:05:48,620 --> 00:05:51,700 have to stop him. 118 00:05:52,050 --> 00:05:55,270 and 119 00:05:55,270 --> 00:05:58,680 he opened his door, it's a crazy thing open the 120 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,810 door for a man with a rifle that you just saw in a shoot out, 121 00:06:02,810 --> 00:06:04,640 but he opened up his door and I 122 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,400 got in and we we gave chase and he was driving very 123 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:09,650 fast and 124 00:06:09,650 --> 00:06:14,840 and when he started, we couldn't even see 125 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:16,480 the guy. 126 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,360 He was already out of sight, 127 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,930 but um, 128 00:06:20,930 --> 00:06:24,040 and we were passing cars and stuff and we called 129 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,130 911, he called 911. 130 00:06:27,130 --> 00:06:29,800 And the first thing I did because I had no idea 131 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,290 how many rounds I started with cause I just grabbed 132 00:06:32,290 --> 00:06:34,740 the handful out of a box 133 00:06:34,740 --> 00:06:37,510 and stuck them in a magazine and I thought, 134 00:06:37,510 --> 00:06:39,090 what if we catch him? 135 00:06:39,090 --> 00:06:42,130 I dropped the magazine out and looked and I had one 136 00:06:42,130 --> 00:06:45,110 round left in the magazine 137 00:06:45,110 --> 00:06:47,990 put it back in and I knew at that point I had one 138 00:06:47,990 --> 00:06:49,720 in the chamber, 139 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:51,760 and one in the magazine. 140 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,450 And I told him 911 get there quick, get there quick, 141 00:06:55,450 --> 00:06:57,840 we're going down 539, they said where down 142 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:02,320 539 and about the time they asked that we were 143 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,550 in a cross road.