Texas Law Man Takes Heroic Action in Walmart

It was Sunday, March 7, 2010 and off duty Delta County deputy Paul Robertson was shopping with his wife and infant daughter at the Walmart in Commerce, Texas.

Minutes before, law enforcement had received reports of shots being fired from a red Mustang on Interstate Highway 30 in the nearby town of Greenville. Artenio Rodriguez, the shooter, drove to Commerce and reportedly exchanged fire with Commerce police before leading them on a chase to the Commerce Walmart and entering the store brandishing an AK47 and a nine millimeter pistol.

According to a forwarded email attributed to Paul's wife, Kristi Robertson, the off duty Deputy's first notification that the shooter was in the store was a Walmart employee running past his wife shouting, "RUN MA'AM! HE'S GOT A GUN!".

Deputy Robertson quickly instructed his wife to head to the back of the store and take cover, then he began a running tactical move toward the front of the store and the shooter.

Paul was carrying a .357 magnum revolver. It is unknown at this time whether his weapon was loaded with .357 or .38 ammo, but regardless six shots were not enough to stop Artenio Rodriguez, who began firing on Paul when the deputy ordered him to drop his firearms. Paul emptied his revolver, hitting Artenio Rodriguez multiple times. Paul took a nine millimeter slug to the chest, and might have taken more were it not for a Commerce P.D. officer opening fire on Artenio Rodriguez with a 12 gauge shot gun. Even that blast was not enough to stop the bad guy, and it took another shotgun round to put him down for good.

Kristi Robertson received a phone call from her injured hero husband when it was all over, and he told her he'd been shot but was going to be okay. If Paul was just saying that to calm his wife, it was a prophetic comment. Doctors discovered that the bullet had missed his vital organs and exited cleanly, entering his chest near center mass and escaping under his arm pit. The only thing that could have made the situation more miraculous would have been a New Testament in his shirt pocket stopping the bullet completely.

Paul Robertson is a hero. Paul was off duty, but he was armed. Paul didn't run for cover. Paul acted decisively and in spite of any fear to stop a killer. If he had died in this incident someone may have made a memorial statue of him. I say make one anyway, he deserves it for putting his life on the line.

Folks who don't believe law abiding citizens should be armed in public often claim that there's a very slim chance of the average citizen encountering a situation where they would need a firearm to defend themselves. Those same folks will buy lotto tickets on a one in 9 million chance of winning.

Your odds of running into a violent criminal are much, much higher.

That's why some law abiding citizens elect to carry a gun and a concealed handgun license.

That's why virtually every law enforcement agency in the State of Texas requires its officers to be armed 24x7, even when off duty.

That's why you should get your CHL and practice defending yourself and loved ones against the violent criminals that plague our society. You don't have to take the extra heroic steps that Paul Robertson did of actively seeking out the bad guy and stopping them, but wouldn't it be nice to know that you had a weapon to defend yourself if you were in that Walmart and a guy like Paul Robertson wasn't there to put himself between the bad guy and your family?