Armed Citizen Helps Rescue City Councilman
by Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Tacoma, WA, City Councilman Rick Talbert was being physically attacked outside a dry cleaner shop in the downtown area on May 10 when an armed clerk came to his rescue.
The armed citizen, Dan Korba, is employed at the dry cleaning establishment and has known Talbert for several years, he told Gun Week. Korba said when the attack began, the unidentified attacker struck Talbert and threatened to kill him. Korba rushed inside the shop and grabbed his .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol, and rushed back outside to Talbert’s aid. As he emerged from the shop, the attacker fled.
The bizarre incident was reported in local newspapers, and according to The Tacoma News Tribune, the incident actually began several blocks from the dry cleaning shop. Talbert, driving his pickup truck, saw a man in a fairly new Jaguar following him, honking the horn. When Talbert turned into the parking lot, the other man followed.
The attack was witnessed by several people, who managed to write down the attacker’s license plate.
The unidentified man struck Talbert in the face and back, and then threatened to kill him while motioning as though he were reaching for a pistol behind his back. That’s when Korba intervened and the man ran back to his car and sped away. Incredibly, though, he came back at least twice, going in different directions each time, before finally disappearing.
The incident caught the attention of Joe Waldron, executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which is based in Bellevue, WA, several miles north of Tacoma. Waldron told Gun Week that this kind of citizen intervention is not only the right thing to do, but it is covered specifically in Washington state statute.
“Here’s a case where an armed citizen stepped forward, potentially putting himself in harm’s way, to legally intervene when it would have been impossible for police to get there in time,” said Waldron. “It is quite possible that Korba’s actions, and the presence of other witnesses, caused the suspect to stop his attack and flee.”
The incident was considered “road rage” because Talbert apparently had never before seen his attacker, and did not believe the man knew who he was assaulting.
Korba’s heroism and use of a defensive firearm came at a time when Washington gun laws are under attack by anti-gunners. Evergreen State gun laws are considered by some to be too weak, while gunowners believe they are remarkably reasonable, including the concealed carry statute, which has been on the books in one form or another for more than 50 years. Washington was the original “shall issue” state, according to some gun rights activists.
Waldron noted that the Talbert incident ended like so many other cases in which an armed citizen either rescues himself or someone else from harm.
“As in most cases when an armed citizen defends himself or herself, or comes to the aid of another person as the first responder, not a single shot was fired,” Waldron observed. “We’re all grateful that no further harm came to Councilman Talbert, and that Mr. Korba did not have to use his pistol. This incident clearly demonstrates that legally armed citizens are a benefit to the community. It’s a textbook example of the importance of Article 1, Section 24 of the State Constitution, which affirms the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, which, in this case, translated to defense of another citizen.”
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