Joseph Robert Wilcox is a hero. He deserves to be remembered as one. This is the kind of individual who typifies the American gun owner and concealed carry supporter. We are not gun-crazy violent paranoid anti-government revolutionaries. We who support the Second Amendment are mature, civilized adults who know there are violent people in the world and sometimes the authorities are not around when they are needed most. Joseph Robert Wilcox died trying to stop two genuine violent paranoid white supremacists on a killing spree and died for his efforts. From this incident we who are willing and able to step into the gap can learn many things. We can learn to seek cover before firing. We can learn to remember to look for the bad guy's partners and allies. Most importantly, we can learn that having our firearm on our body is not just a luxury, it is a necessity because this kind of thing does happen.
No one can say for sure if Joseph Wilcox selfless sacrifice saved lives and brought this violent rampage to an early ending. What can be shown unequivocally is that his actions drove the rampaging couple to seek cover and once under cover, to end their own lives. People who grab a gun and go on violent rampages are cowards. The presence of an armed citizen can, and does, bring potential rampages to a rapid end with great regularity but these stories never make the news. The only reason this one did is because the shooters first took the lives of two police officers by ambushing them while they were having lunch. The shock of this tragedy propelled it to global news networks. While Joseph Wilcox has been heralded by local networks throughout Nevada, the global media has once again dropped mention of him almost completely. This blog post is my humble effort to counter the callous reporting of the world media.
Let the name of Joseph Robert Wilcox shine in our hearts and minds and let the name of his killers be long forgotten!
A list of fundraisers for the family of Joseph Robert Wilcox as well as the two fallen officers is here:
The following is a copy and paste of an article that originally appeared here: http://www.kgw.com/news/Heroic-action-to-try-and-stop-Vegas-killers-262525631.html
by Rick Jervis, USA Today
June 10, 2014
Joseph Wilcox went to Walmart Sunday morning to return an Internet modem.
Instead, he became the third victim of a violent husband-and-wife shooting spree in Las Vegas that left two police officers dead, as well as the shooters.
Police on Monday described Wilcox, 31, as "heroic" for trying to confront the shooters with his concealed handgun as they entered the store. But his family described him as a quiet man who wanted to be a police officer and didn't always carry a gun.
"It hasn't set in yet," Wilcox's mother, Debra Wilcox, told KTNV-TV in Las Vegas. "I just know he's not coming home. I keep looking for him to walk in that door. But he's not ever going to do that again."
Wilcox had bought several modems to try to fix an internet problem at his family's home and was returning one of those modems Sunday, family members told KTNV-TV.
Across the parking lot from the Walmart, Jerad and Amanda Miller shot and killed two Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officers inside a pizzeria at about 11:22 a.m. Sunday, Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference.
The couple then walked across the parking lot and into the Walmart. Jerad Miller fired one shot into the air and ordered everyone to leave, warning "this is a revolution" and police were on their way, McMahill said.
Wilcox, near a checkout counter, told a friend he was going to confront the shooter, he said.
"He was carrying a concealed weapon and he immediately and heroically moved toward the position of Jerad Miller," McMahill said.
But Wilcox didn't notice Amanda Miller pushing a shopping cart nearby. She pulled out her own handgun and shot Wilcox once in the ribs, killing him, he said. "He immediately collapsed," McMahill said.
Wilcox was between jobs at the time of the shooting and was looking for work as a web designer, his uncle, John Wilson, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He had applied to the Metropolitan Police Department several years ago but didn't make it, he said.
"He heard the threat to everyone and he was trying to stop it," Wilson told the Review-Journal. "He wasn't trying to be a hero. He was trying to do what he thought should be done."
Family members said they were struggling to raise money to pay for Wilcox's funeral. On Monday, Twitter threads buzzed with plans of benefits and fundraisers to try to help them.