When an armed intruder broke into the home of this Vietnam veteran and his wife, the last thing they expected to happen was them getting beaten to bloody pulp. Well, that’s exactly what took place, as this 82-year-old man put up a quite a fight…and you won’t want to miss what he said after the incident.
The elderly couple, Herbert and Lois Parrish, were in their South Carolina home when they heard an unexpected knock at the door.
When Lois opened it, she was confronted by a man later identified as 61-year-old Harold Runnels who lied about looking for his dog.
In reality, he forced himself into the house and slashed Lois’ forehead with a knife.
That’s when Herbert decided to take matters into his own hands and grabbed a shotgun from the wall. He proceeded to strike Runnels repeatedly until he collapsed unconscious on the floor.
Herbert Parrish is an 82-year-old Vietnam veteran who felt that he had no choice but to protect himself and his wife from danger at any cost.
“I felt we’re gone. He’s going to kill us and take what he can take…I said, ‘I’ve got to do something quick and get the edge on him,'” recalled Herbert.
Determined to keep his wife safe, Herbert struck Runnels at least 10 times in the face with all of his might until Runnels became unresponsive on the floor.
When authorities arrived at the scene they found Runnels unresponsive on the floor due to being bludgeoned by Herbert’s shotgun however, this hasn’t strummed up any sympathy for him as most seem agree that pickings were wrong victims in picking out this elderly couple’s home as well as being armed intruders themselves.
The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office Captain Eric Abdullah believes that “Folks have the right to defend themselves if their lives are in danger,” yet also recommends people think smart and call for help if possible every situation is different so there is no one size fits all approach for self defense.
Ultimately though this elderly couple was successful in defending themselves against what could have been a life or death situation due to their quick thinking and courage of their 82 year old Vietnam Veteran hero Herbert Parrish who fought till victory was achieved.
