A HERO

Bar Manager Tried to Fight Off Maine Gunman With a Butcher’s Knife

State police told Leroy Walker that his son “tried to go at the gunman to stop him from shooting anybody else. The gunman shot him twice through the stomach.”

Leroy Walker, the father of Maine mass shooting victim Joseph Walker, told NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt that his son had used a butcher’s knife to try to fight suspected gunman Robert Card. Joseph was the manager at Schemengees Bar and Grille, the second place Card allegedly opened fire at on Wednesday evening. Walker said state police told him that his son “tried to go at the gunman to stop him from shooting anybody else. The gunman shot him twice through the stomach.” Holt asked if knowing how the incident unfolded changed how he felt about Joseph’s death, to which Walker said, “It made it worse.” Walker, a city council member in Auburn, Maine, also told MSNBC that it took nearly 14 hours to get an update about Joseph, and he and his family are now “suffering and dying in a nightmare we don’t understand.” Eighteen people were killed in the twin shootings and 13 others were injured.