Quote: Ernest Thomas was arrested on one count of armed robbery and one count of attempted armed robbery, but remains in the hospital as he recovers from gunshot wounds, NOPD said. Around 10:19 p.m. Thursday, Thomas and another man with semiautomatic handguns entered the Waffle House in the 2900 block of Elysian Fields Avenue, police said. The other man jumped the counter and demanded money from the cashier, while also taking $8 from a costumer, according to an NOPD release Friday afternoon. Thomas stood on the side by the counter and served as lookout for the other man. A customer armed with his personal firearm drew his weapon as the other robber approached him, causing the robber to flee. Thomas then pointed his own weapon at the armed customer, the police release said. The customer fired several shots at Thomas, who then ran out of the Waffle House and fled in a white Chrysler with the other robber. The customer later told police that he believed he had struck Thomas. Later in the night, a white Chrysler pulled up at a local emergency room and dropped off a man with several gunshot wounds to the back, hip and arm. The man matched witness descriptions of the injured robber, according to the release.

This unnamed, law-abiding, armed customer thwarted an armed robbery in progress -- and possibly saved lives -- by exercising his rights. This incident will be recorded as one of the many annual instances (between 100,000 on the extreme low end, to 2.5 million on the higher end) of Americans defending themselves or their property with firearms. And as extraordinary and special as Mr. Shaw's actions were, what are the chances the Louisiana crime, with two armed perpetrators, could have been stopped by a single unarmed man? I'd bet the managers, employees and patrons of that restaurant are very grateful that a good guy with a gun was eating in the dining room that night.