A man reportedly engaged in lewd conduct in a women’s restroom at a mall in Dearborn, Mich., was stopped by a woman pulling out her firearm.

A witness to the incident told reporters she went into the restroom and saw another woman “wrapping up.” After going into a stall, however, she heard urgent knocking and the woman who’d been about to leave saying, “Ma’am, ma’am!” She exited the stall and saw a man staring at the other woman while he engaged in obscene acts. The man “looked as if he had heinous things on his mind,” the witness said.

The woman being targeted pulled out her handgun. “She was so afraid. She didn’t want to do that. She felt threatened,” the witness told reporters. The two women then blocked the exit and screamed for security. However, the suspect casually left through another door. “He was not afraid, and it made me feel that he’s done this before,” the witness said.

The suspect was apparently not stopped by the store’s security or mall security, and the women told reporters they felt the security guard they dealt with afterward was “unfazed.” He reportedly asked the women if they wanted to call the police. The witness told reporters, “I asked, what is [the store’s] policy if something like this happens? Of course we want you to call the police.”

“When you are going to the restrooms, check the stalls,” she warned. “We [women] have to be on high alert at every moment.”

The armed woman told another news outlet, “I was very happy I had something to protect myself.”

Article by Mel Dixon