PA Bill Number: HB2663
Title: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal.
Description: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES
Last Action Date: Nov 19, 2024
Colorado Self-Defense: Armed witness rescued woman from attempted murder outside church :: 08/01/2015
Police describe Heriberto Haro-Luna, drunk and incensed, confronting his recently estranged wife in a Boulder church parking lot, trapping her by the neck and threatening to slit her throat as she uttered final prayers.
It was just before 6 p.m. Thursday, and an employee of Sacred Heart of Jesus, at 14th Street and Mapleton Avenue, happened to be walking to his car — with his concealed handgun — as the confrontation simmered.
He knew the woman, and he watched closely from a short distance as a verbal argument became physical and eventually turned into what police are now calling an attempted murder.
They say the church employee — who hasn't yet been identified — thwarted Haro-Luna's attack and may have saved a life in the process.
"He was familiar with the woman as a regular parishioner on Thursday evenings," Detective Sgt. Jim MacPherson said.
"He saw (Haro-Luna) put his arm around her neck. She had actually started saying her prayers. She thought she was going to die right there."
The witness has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, MacPherson said.
"He presented (the gun) and told the man to leave her alone," he added. "It was very fortunate he was there."
Seeing the weapon, police say, Haro-Luna fled the parking lot and was captured shortly thereafter at the corner of Broadway and Mapleton Avenue by officers who subdued him with a Taser.
Haro-Luna, 47, was arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and felony menacing.
He is being held at the Boulder County Jail on $200,000 bond and will next appear in court Tuesday for an official filing of charges.
The victim, 41, was rushed to Boulder Community Health for emergency surgery. She had been stabbed in the abdomen, police say.
Deputy Chief Curtis Johnson said Thursday night she had sustained "serious" stab wounds, but police said Friday she was recovering and "doing well" following surgery.
The incident marks the second time police have arrested Haro-Luna on domestic violence-related offenses, MacPherson said.
In an interview Friday, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said permitted gun owners like the man who intervened outside Sacred Heart of Jesus have often expressed to him the desire to feel protected in church.
"I've talked to a number of these permit holders, and some of them have said that's specifically why they did it," Pelle said. "They were motivated by church shootings that have happened in the past."
In Boulder County, the Sheriff's Office has issued more than 6,000 concealed weapon permits, which, he said, allow permit holders to bring guns anywhere except schools, public buildings with screening devices -- such as the county Justice Center -- and buildings that federally prohibit guns, such as airports.
Additionally, private property owners can prohibit concealed weapons. But there is no prohibition on carrying a gun into a church in Colorado.
Pelle said he has no problem with responsible citizens armed in churches, and he noted: "Unless you have a screening procedure in the church, there's no way to prohibit someone with malintent from bringing a gun in, anyway."
"I think those instances are rare, though," he added. "Sometimes people do get a false sense of security."
