Mark Ross, a retired West Virginia high school teacher and current Republican candidate for the state’s District 28 House of Delegates, proved why the Second Amendment is so critically important to defend and protect.
According to WSAZ-TV, Ross was alerted of an alleged home invasion suspect targeting residences in the neighborhood where his daughter and grandchildren live, and that was enough to spur the GOP candidate into heroic action. Ross would eventually locate the alleged bad guy and hold him at gunpoint while he waited for the West Virginia State Police to arrive.
As Prichard, West Virginia, resident Katelyn Kelly described to WSAZ, the situation started when the suspect reportedly attempted to open the door to her parked vehicle in her driveway shortly before 9:00 a.m. The disturbance prompted a peek out of her window to determine what was going on, and that’s when she said the suspect approached her porch.
“In that moment, you don’t know what his intentions are, what he’s wanting to do,” Kelly said.
“He looked a little out of his mind,” Kelly added.
She said he attempted to make his way inside her front door, but was startled when Kelly’s dog “jumped” at him, causing him to flee across the street, presumably to size up her neighbor’s house, where he was witnessed attempting to enter an outbuilding.
Ross, a self-described “God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian,” who lives near the rural Prichard neighborhood, received a call about the unfolding dangerous situation and immediately sprang into action, which was especially important because the man was reportedly seen heading toward his daughter’s home, where Ross’ wife was babysitting his grandchildren.
“That made it even more special to me,” Ross said. “They’re not going to bother my grandbabies for sure.”
Being the law-abiding gun owner he is, Ross grabbed his pistol and beelined to his daughter’s home, where he discovered the suspect attempting to enter the house through the basement door, which turned out to be an incredibly bad mistake by the suspect.
“That’s when I told him to get on the ground,” Ross said. “He started to run.”
Ross gained control of the situation and got the suspect, 29-year-old Roy Ward, to the ground, holding him at gunpoint for roughly 30 minutes while he waited for state police officers to show up to make the arrest.
“I kept telling him to stay down and not to move,” Ross recounted.
Kelly praised Ross for his quick and successful action in stopping what could have been a deadly situation.
“The man definitely would have gotten away if Mark hadn’t been here and done what he did for us,” Kelly said. “We thank him very much, and luckily that man is not out running doing the same things to other people.”
As far as Ross is concerned, he says he was simply doing his job, adding, “I, for one, am not going to stand around and let thugs and drugs take over our community.”
“It’s not about politics. It’s never been about politics. It’s about doing what’s right,” he added.
At a time when this great nation is plagued by skyrocketing violent crime rates, thanks mostly to the Democrats’ ridiculously soft-on-crime policies, it’s refreshing to see the good guys chalk up a win.
Unsurprisingly, the suspect, who was arrested on a felony charge, had outstanding warrants. Law enforcement officers transported him to the Western Regional Jail, where he’ll await trial and have time to reflect on his poor life choices.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
