Video shows "heroic" security guards stop armed man wearing devil mask from entering Florida strip club
Three "heroic" security guards are being praised after surveillance video captured them stopping an armed man wearing a devil mask from entering a Florida strip club, potentially saving "dozens of lives," the Tampa Police Department said Tuesday.
Police said the suspect, identified as 44-year-old Michael Rudman, arrived at Mons Venus on Sunday wearing a red and black devil mask with the words "Kill" and "Dark One" written on his arms. The suspect is seen in the surveillance footage walking toward the entrance of the strip club with what police said was a fully loaded firearm in one hand and a flashlight in the other.
One of the security guards noticed the firearm and knocked the weapon out of the suspect's hand. The guard then picked up the gun and pointed it at the suspect, but rather than back down, he attempted to grab the gun back. A struggle then ensued with three guards attempting to hold Rudman and pin him to the ground. One of the guards suffered minor injuries during the incident, police said.
🚨𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚 𝐏𝐃 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛🚨 At approximately 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, March 19, 2023, Michael Rudman, 44, arrived in a silver pickup truck at Mons Venus (📍2040 N Dale Mabry Highway) and exited his vehicle, wearing a red and black devil mask with the words “𝑲𝑰𝑳𝑳” and “𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑲 𝑶𝑵𝑬” written on his arms. He walked toward the entrance of the adult entertainment venue with a fully loaded firearm in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Upon seeing the firearm, a security guard engaged the suspect and knocked the weapon out of his hand. During the incident, a single round from the suspect’s gun struck the front door of the venue. No one was injured. One of three security guards involved in detaining Rudman suffered minor injuries from the altercation. #YourTampaPD arrived on scene and took Rudman into custody, locating two additional fully loaded magazines in his pocket, along with additional ammunition, knives, and firearm holsters in Rudman’s truck. He is currently at the Falkenburg Road Jail facing charges of: 🚨 Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon 🚨 Battery 🚨 Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon 🚨 Purchasing, Possessing, or Receiving a Firearm While Under a Risk Protection Order (RPO) (𝘙𝘶𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘗𝘖 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺) Rudman’s motive for Sunday’s incident is unknown at this time and is still under investigation, however, detectives have learned that Rudman visited the establishment the night prior. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙇𝙚𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙬. “𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.”
Posted by Tampa Police Department on Tuesday, March 21, 2023
A single round from Rudman's gun also struck the front door of the venue, police added, but it was unclear who fired the gun. No one was wounded by the gunfire.
Police eventually arrived and took Rudman into custody. They found two additional loaded magazines in his pocket and more ammunition, knives and firearm holsters in his truck, police said. Tampa Police interim Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement that they will continue to investigate the thwarted incident and praised the efforts to stop Rudman.
"There is no question that the security guards who disarmed this suspect saved dozens of lives through their heroic acts, and I am thankful our officers were able to take this individual into custody before he had a chance to carry out whatever he had planned," Bercaw said.
Rudman was booked into Falkenburg Road Jail and faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm while under a risk protection order, police said.
Police said his motive is under investigation and noted that Rudman was allegedly at the venue the night prior.