There Are Monsters Among Us, and That’s Why I Carry
Mother ‘visibly traumatized’ after husband kills her two children, father of 1 of the kids, then himself, police say | From 13abc.com
There are stories you read once and stick with you forever. Stories that knock the wind out of you and leave you staring at the wall, hands shaking a little, wondering how the world can be both beautiful and brutal in the same breath. It's stories like that answer the question of why I carry.
This story of a Tiffin, Ohio murder suicide… it’s one of those stories.
Evil Walked Into the Driveway
A mother.
Two small children, a 7-year-old and a 7-month-old.
A man she once trusted.
Another man simply trying to help her get out.
Four lives ended in moments.
And one woman left standing in a state of shock so deep police said she was “visibly traumatized” but physically uninjured. Imagining what she is going through should break anyone with a heartbeat.
Here’s what happened:
According to Tiffin Police, the mother went to her home on Huss Street around 6:24 p.m. to gather belongings after ongoing domestic issues. She wasn’t alone. Twenty-nine-year-old Dustin Willey, the father of her oldest child, was helping her. Her husband, 42-year-old Ryan Eagon, the father of the 7-month-old, was supposed to be working out of town.
He wasn’t.
Police say the children were outside near the car while the adults gathered items inside. Then they heard the 7-year-old scream.
When they ran outside, Eagon was in the driveway.
Witnesses say he chased Willey and opened fire. Then he turned the gun on the children. A 7-year-old and a baby who never got a chance to understand the world they were born into.
He shot them both.
He shot Willey again.
And then he put the gun to himself.
The infant and Eagon died at the scene.
The 7-year-old and Willey were rushed to the hospital but didn’t survive.
The mother, the person who loved all of them, was left standing in a nightmare that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
Attached here is a Facebook post from the Children's Grandmother that is being shared all over.
One Act of Evil Casts a Long Shadow
I read that story and could feel the temperature drop around me. This is our world… A world where evil doesn’t hide under beds or wait in alleyways. Evil stands in your own driveway and will fire round after round while children scream in fear.
I see the recoil from this story as people share it across social media with captions like “Our World is So Evil”, and I don't want people to believe that. This isn’t proof that the world is evil. It’s proof that evil exists in the world. There’s a difference.
Most people are good. Most homes are safe. Most marriages don’t end in blood. But every once in a while a monster puts on human skin and walks around like the rest of us. And if you’re unlucky enough to be near him when he decides to unravel, it’s already too late.
You don’t get a warning. You don’t get time to negotiate. You don’t get to say, “Hold on, let’s talk this out.”
That mother didn’t get any of that. Dustin Willey didn’t get any of that. Those two children certainly didn’t get any of that.
Why I Carry
This is why I carry. Not because I’m scared. Not because I’m paranoid. Not because I fantasize about defending myself. I carry because I know darkness exists and I will not let it take the people I love without a fight. I carry because this beautiful world of mine is worth protecting from evil that can show up without announcing itself.
Masculinity gets mocked these days. Being a protector gets laughed off as some outdated idea. Meanwhile, mothers are moving bags out of a house they used to feel safe in, while the man who vowed to love them sneaks home early and opens fire on the children.
Tell me again how protection is outdated.
Tell me again how carrying a gun makes you paranoid.
Tell me again how “that kind of thing only happens somewhere else.”
Good People Don’t Get a Pass From Reality
The truth is simple. Ugly simple.
You either accept that evil exists or you pretend it doesn’t. One of those paths gets people killed.
If you’re reading this and you’ve been putting off getting your permit, or picking up your first firearm, or taking the training you know you need, let this be your push. Don’t wait for tragedy to come knocking. Don’t assume your story has a happy ending just because you’re a good person.
Get a gun. Learn how to run it clean and safe. Carry it everywhere the law allows. Not because it makes you a hero. But because it keeps you from being a victim caught flat-footed when a monster steps out of the shadows.
A Hard Reminder — and a Call to Action
Life is fragile. Evil is real. And protection is your responsibility.
The mother in this story will live with that night for the rest of her life. Dustin Willey died, unable to defend himself and his son. My point is not to say they should have been armed; my point is that you and I don’t have to live with the regret of being unprepared.
Carry because you love your family.
Carry because life is worth guarding.
Carry because evil does not care about your excuses.
Check out Guardian Nation to get access to many hours' worth of training that will help you become a better, more prepared protector today.
Amen, good article.
A case known as “The Wichita Massacre” is why I carry at home.
It will never happen to me. I’ve lived 89 years and never have I wished I was carrying because of some situation. Never have I been happy that I was carrying. Having said all that, I still carry. The community where I live is basically conservative and many residents carry. I carry. My wife carries. Always. The most useless gun is the one you don’t have when you need it. If you never need it but have it “just in case”, there’s no problem but there is an element of comfort and security in having it available.
If you don’t carry at all times, you might as well not carry at all. Evil has no place or time constraints. I find it amazing when someone tells me that they only carry when they think they might need it. If you think that you might need it then maybe you shouldn’t go there? It’s like the old American Express Card commercial says. Never leave home without it!