EXCLUSIVE–Concealed Permit Holder Who Shot Alleged Attacker: ‘I Opened the Door and He Invaded Us’

A concealed carry permit holder, allegedly attacked at a hotel Sunday following church, says he opened the door and the suspect “invaded” the room.

Breitbart News reported that the attacker allegedly moved as if he had a knife in his hand, but was actually stabbing with a fork. The concealed permit holder, Alex, was able to fight the attacker off, retrieve his gun, and fire one shot, striking the suspect in the arm.

On August 2, Breitbart News spoke with Alex and his wife Dana, both of whom were at the hotel when the alleged attack occurred. They said they stepped into the elevator to go up their room after church, and a man in the elevator did not seem to be on the up and up. When the elevator stopped on their floor, Alex politely told the man he could go first, but the man refused. Determined not to take his eyes off the man, Alex again told him that he could exit first.

Eventually, the man exited and went one way, then Alex and Dana exited and went the other.

Once in the room, Alex and Dana decided to get coffee. Alex said he opened the door to leave the room, and the man was standing right there. He said the man instantly lunged and “invaded” the room. Alex’s exact words, “I opened the door and he invaded us.” The attacker allegedly kept trying to stab the fork in Alex’s neck, so Alex immediately put his hands up and began “deflecting” while the attacker took swipes at him.

Alex had a Glock 19 in the room. He had carried it throughout the morning then put it down once they got back from church. Now that he was allegedly under attack, he knew had to fight the attacker off while working his way back to the gun.

Throughout the alleged attack, Alex said the suspect “was being very quiet” to be sure he did not draw attention to himself, but the noise was there anyway. Alex was fighting for his life, and Dana was screaming at the attacker, “Get out! Get out!”

Alex eventually got back to his gun and was able to fire a shot and end the attack.

Breitbart News asked Alex, “How do you stress the importance of having a gun and being prepared to use it in the event of an attack?”

Alex said, “If it wasn’t for that weapon, you wouldn’t be speaking to me. Because that guy was like a demon, he was coming at me. And if it had not been me — if he had cornered someone without a gun — he probably would have hurt them badly.”

Police arrived and arrested the wounded suspect, 48-year-old James Grisham. He faces “two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.