Grandfather Struggles With Gunman At Lathrop Park
LATHROP (CBS13) - A day at the park with his grandchildren turned terrifying for a 61-year-old Lathrop man when he was confronted by a gunman who he feared was going to start shooting young children.
The grandfather says the suspect asked for a lighter, but then quickly pulled out a gun on the playground packed with children.
"The first thing I thought was about the children," he said.
With his four small grandchildren in tow, he found himself in a fight for his life against a gunman at the Lathrop playground.
"I thought he was crazy, like he's going to start shooting," he said. "He was going to shoot me. He did, but the gun jammed."
The faulty gun saved his life, but the fight was far from over.
"He goes like this (gestures, points gun)," he said. "The only thing I was thinking is 'I'm going to die.' I grabbed it. I backed up, fell down."
Wrestling on the playground, the grandfather held on to the gun barrel.
"He was holding the gun like this with two hands," he said. "I was holding it away from my face."
A woman delivering lunches at the park rushed children to safety.
"The lady told us to get in the van because the guy was shooting, about to shoot Papa," said the man's 7-year-old granddaughter.
The struggle fractured the grandfather's hand, forcing him to let go of the gun.
To his surprise, the gunman walked away.
But then he turned back around.
"He came back and said 'I want your chain,' my necklace," he said. "I said 'OK," ripped it and he walked that way like nothing happened."
The shooter was after the grandfather's thin gold chain, a Valentine's Day gift from his wife decades ago. He would have given it up without a fight.
"If he would have said robbery first, I would have said 'OK, take it,' but he didn't say that," the man said.
The suspect is still on the loose. He's described as a light-skinned black man in his late teens or early 20s, about 6 feet tall.
If the man is caught, he could face attempted murder and robbery charges.
Neighbors are on alert keeping an eye out and so are deputies. One was spotted patrolling the area on Wednesday.
