A 75-year-old man is being credited with saving a group of students and their parents when a teenager reportedly began threatening them with a knife.
It was Tuesday afternoon, October 13, 2015 when police in the Village of Morton, Illinois were called to the public library because someone reportedly had knives and was trying to cut himself and others, according to a report by the Pekin Daily Times. The group had been in a conference room participating in a chess class.
Pekin Daily Times reported that the teacher of the class, 75-year-old James Vernon from Peoria took action when the attacker, 19-year-old Dustin Brown, entered the room with two knives.
According to Vernon, who is an Army veteran, he reverted to his knife-fight training that he had learned in the service, according to the report. Vernon was able to subdue the attacker, but injured his hand as he blocked Brown's knife swipe.
In the attack, Vernon suffered a cut tendon and severed arteries in his hand. He had surgery and was recovering at home, according to the report.
Online court records show that Brown was charged with attempted first degree murder, armed violence, burglary, and aggravated battery.