Details emerging from Saturday’s synagogue shooting at Chabad of Poway, north of San Diego, show a veteran charged at the alleged shooter, forcing him to flee and saving lives in the process.
While everyone was running away, Oscar Stewart rushed toward the sounds of gunfire. Stewart told the Daily Caller on Sunday that he yelled, “Get down!” and, “You motherfucker! I’m going to kill you,” to get the shooter’s attention after he began firing in the lobby of the synagogue.
Stewart had served in the Navy and Army. He deployed to Iraq in 2003 and left the military the following year.
“I knew I had to be within five feet of this guy so his rifle couldn’t get to me,” Stewart recalled. “So I ran immediately toward him, and I yelled as loud as I could. And he was scared. I scared the hell out of him.”
“Looking back, it was kind of a crazy idea to do, but I did it,” he said.
Stewart chased the shooter outside, where he retreated to his car. By then, an off-duty Border Patrol agent had rushed outside with a firearm and told Stewart to get down, which he did. The agent managed to fire the weapon and hit the shooter’s car as he drove off.
“It takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun,” Stewart said.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department praised the veteran in a press release: “Stewart risked his life to stop the shooter and saved lives in the process.”
