Brave neighbors are hailed as heroes for saving an elderly man's life by taking on his attacker with their guns

  • Karen Duncan was walking up her friends's driveway in Lawrenceville on Monday afternoon when she heard an elderly man cry out for help
  • She saw an elderly gentleman laying on the ground with a younger man on top of him with a knife
  • Duncan grabbed her purse with her gun inside and pointed it at the attacker saying: 'I'm getting ready to shoot you'
  • Her friend, Ron Childress, a former law enforcement officer, also showed up as back-up. He too pointed his gun at the man. Duncan then called 911.
  • The knife attacker looked stunned. He quickly stopped what he was doing and threw the knife away. 
  • The brave pair said that without their intervention the attacker would have likely stabbed the elderly gentlemen 

By Belinda Robinson For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:25 EST, 12 December 2015 | Updated: 18:50 EST, 12 December 2015

Two Georgia residents are being hailed as heroes after they saved an elderly neighbor's life when they heard him screaming for help.

Karen Duncan was walking up her friends's driveway in Lawrenceville on Monday afternoon when she heard an elderly man's desperate cries for help.

She told Fox 5: '[I heard him say] Help, he is trying to kill me, help me, help me.'

Karen Duncan, left, was walking up Ron Childress' driveway in Lawrenceville on Monday afternoon when she heard an elderly man's desperate cries for help

Karen Duncan, left, was walking up Ron Childress' driveway in Lawrenceville on Monday afternoon when she heard an elderly man's desperate cries for help

Duncan grabbed her purse with her gun inside and pointed it at the attacker saying: 'I'm getting ready to shoot you.' 

Duncan grabbed her purse with her gun inside and pointed it at the attacker saying: 'I'm getting ready to shoot you.' 

Her friend, Childress, (pictured) a former law enforcement officer, also showed up as back-up. He too pointed his gun at the attacker. Duncan then called 911.

Her friend, Childress, (pictured) a former law enforcement officer, also showed up as back-up. He too pointed his gun at the attacker. Duncan then called 911.

Duncan saw an elderly gentleman laying on the ground with a younger man on top of him with a knife. There was blood and 'this big old knife.'

Her friend Ron Childress describes how he saw Duncan run towards his house and says he instinctively knew something was wrong.

Childress threw open the door and was horrified to hear the elderly man crying out for help.

That's when they both sprung into action.

Duncan grabbed her purse with her gun inside and ran outside. She pointed the weapon at the attacker telling him: 'I'm getting ready to shoot you.'

She says the knife attacker looked stunned and quickly stopped what he was doing. He threw the knife away.

Duncan's friend, Childress, a former law enforcement officer, also showed up as back-up. He too pointed his gun at the man. Duncan then called 911.

The brave pair said that without their intervention the attacker would have likely stabbed the elderly gentlemen

The brave pair said that without their intervention the attacker would have likely stabbed the elderly gentlemen

Childress told Fox: 'I said [to the knifeman] put your arms out, put your legs out and stay right where you are, do not move.

The brave pair said that without their intervention the attacker would have likely stabbed the elderly gentlemen. 

No other information about the knifeman - such as name or age - has been released by police.

Childress said: 'You cannot protect everybody, police can't do it, they're good after the fact, but they're no good to you when it happens generally.

'They're not going to be there so you need to be ready to protect yourself and others because what happened yesterday is a perfect example of how a citizen can protect other citizens.' 

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