My wife has a strong fear that someone will try to snatch one of our twin boys from a public venue. You know, while strapping one into the car in a parking lot, when the other is unattended momentarily. Or in a store when they walk off in two directions. For one Des Moines, IA mom, the nightmare of an attempted child abduction happened to her in recent days.
It all went down a couple of Thursdays ago when a rag-tag couple tried to grab a young boy, claiming they were his parents. When the true mom confronted the pair, the male half grabbed the kid by the arm and tried to flee with the boy.
Mom was having no part of that. She pulled her gun and explained the facts of life to the would-be abductors, telling them, “Let go of my kid.” Pretty sure she probably had a pretty determined mama-bear look about her face. She might have even uttered a naughty word or two along the way to help drive home the point.
Seeing mom’s determination, the would-be child abductors abandoned the attempted child snatching and fled.
Fortunately a security guard followed the pair and led police to them. You can’t outrun Motorola.
Shay Lindberg was armed with a gun and able to fight off suspects who tried to steal her child in the Des Moines skywalk. https://t.co/FAPE7S5d6a
— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) January 12, 2023
The Des Moines Register has the dramatic story . . .
Shay Lindberg, manager of the Hubbell Tower Apartments, was armed when Laurie Potter, 56, and Michael Ross, 43, allegedly tried to take the child Jan. 5.
According to an incident report, the incident occurred at 904 Walnut St. in downtown Des Moines, where the skywalk passes through the Hubbell Tower Apartments building. Potter and Ross are charged with felony child stealing.
Lindberg did not know Potter and Ross, who are homeless, according to a report. She was in her office getting ready to leave when she saw Potter and Ross walking back and forth in front of her door. Potter was waving at her son.
Thinking they just wanted to apply for a job, Lindberg decided to leave.
That’s when Potter started telling Lindberg to give her back her son and crouched down to the child, saying she was his real mother, according to the report. Potter said the boy’s real father was Thor, then grabbed the child by the arm and started to run away, the report said.
Big kudos to the mom for not smoking one or both of the would-be abductors.
Police also praised the woman and her cool-headedness. And more importantly, that she carried the means with which to protect her little crumb snatcher from a child abduction. From WHO . . .
Sergeant Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department says this is one example of a lawfully-possessed gun doing something well. “It certainly looks like the big turning point here, the pivotal piece to keeping her child safe was the fact that she was lawfully-armed with a handgun, and she produced it and told them ‘let go of my kid.’”
Candidly, as the advanced aged father of a pair of four-year-old twins, grabbing one of my kids and trying to run away with would likely meet with a judicious yet generous application of ballistic therapy — without, of course, endangering my child — if they failed to stop when commanded.
Who says you can’t shoot bad guys or bad girls in the back?
This story lacked the happy ending I craved. But better the kid wasn’t exposed to one or two wannabe child molesters taking the ambient temp challenge.
Chikd molesters shouldn’t go to prison. Put em in a wood chipper
Child abductors definitely do not have the “best interest” of the child in mind especially when they are homeless. The gall of some people are beyond comprehension. Bless the mother with her situational awareness and being prepared. You rock, girl! Be Safe!
Mom didn’t need the trauma of a shooting in front of her child, this is a good ending, hopefully, these two homeless will be incarcerated a while, maybe they will get mental help.