Officers of the LAPD received some totally unexpected backup yesterday, during a fire fight with local gang members in the Watts neighbourhood, as an elderly lady with an assault rifle showed up and scared the criminals away.
Officers Ricardo Cordova and Frank Cho were responding to a call concerning a presumed drug deal in a parking lot, when they came under fire from members of a local street gang. The policemen rapidly found themselves in a perilous situation, being inferior to their attackers in both numbers and firepower.
Fortunately for them, 79-year old Wendy Robinson was watching the events from her kitchen window and decided to intervene. The elderly woman equipped herself with her personal bulletproof vest and an AK-47 assault rifle, and ran to the officers’ rescue, firing more than 160 rounds in the direction of the assailants, injuring two of them.
“There was ten of twelve of these scumbags, firing with Uzis and shotguns at these two poor officers who had only pistols, so I really had to do something,” she says. “I got my vest and gun, a few extra clips of ammo, and I went out the house. As soon as I began shooting at them, the look on these thugs’ face changed and they began to run for their lives. The policemen also seemed really surprised to see me, but they were definitely relieved when they saw I was there to help them.”
Two of the assailants were injured and were arrested on the site. They were transported to the Martin Luther King community hospital. Their state is considered serious, but doctors don’t fear for their lives.
Officers Cordova and Cho say they owe their lives to the rapid intervention of Ms. Robinson, and have decided to recommend her for the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The LAPD fears the elderly woman could now face some form of retaliation from the criminals, for helping the police and humiliating them, but the threat doesn’t seem to bother Ms. Robinson at all.
“They told me that these punks might try to attack me because of what I did,” she told reporters. “Well, let them come! I have never been afraid of anyone in my life, and I am not going to start now! These kids think these streets belong to them, but I have been here for 53 years, and I don’t intend to leave. I am ready to defend myself and my house, don’t worry about me.”
The sector of the Watts neighbourhood in which Ms. Robinson lives is known to be dominated by a primarily African-American gang known as the Crips.
They are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members, and have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes.
