An army veteran teaching a chess class to children at a public library was forced to put his long-ago learned fighting skills to the test when a teen assailant entered with two knives, shouting, “I’m going to kill some people!”
James Vernon, 75, recalled his knife-fight training skills he learned in the Army to subdue 19-year-old Dustin Brown, according to The Associated Press.
Brown stormed into the library, where Vernon was teaching a class of 16 children, armed with two hunting-style knives.
Vernon was able to distract Brown long enough so that the children could flee the room. No children were harmed in the incident.
Vernon suffered two cut arteries and a cut tendon in his left hand during the scuffle.
A library employee arrived to help Vernon keep the suspect contained until police arrived. Brown is being held on $800,000 bond on charges of attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated battery.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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