THIS AIN’T NO “GUN-FREE” ZONE: Gun-toting church employee saves woman from throat slitting

Question for you:  So, what stops a drunk and violent husband, armed with a knife, about to slit his estranged wife’s throat?

Answer:  A good guy with a gun, of course.

That’s what happened in Boulder, CO last Thursday when an armed church employee saw Heriberto Haro-Luna put a knife to his wife’s throat.  The employee drew down on the angry knife-wielder and explained the facts of life (and soon to be death) to him.

Disheveled Herbie was drunk, and there might have been a language barrier, but he spoke fluent “gun” and ran off like his hair was on fire.  He just never had it ‘splained to him that way before.

Cops caught up with him later.  Drunken Herbie fought them so he got to ride the lightning (free of charge, so to speak) for a while until his attitude changed.

Boulder, CO (Daily Camera) – Police describe Heriberto Haro-Luna, drunk and incensed, confronting his recently estranged wife in a Boulder church parking lot, trapping her by the neck and threatening to slit her throat as she uttered final prayers.

It was just before 6 p.m. Thursday, and an employee of Sacred Heart of Jesus, at 14th Street and Mapleton Avenue, happened to be walking to his car — with his concealed handgun — as the confrontation simmered.

He knew the woman, and he watched closely from a short distance as a verbal argument became physical and eventually turned into what police are now calling an attempted murder.

They say the church employee — who hasn’t yet been identified — thwarted Haro-Luna’s attack and may have saved a life in the process.

“He was familiar with the woman as a regular parishioner on Thursday evenings,” Detective Sgt. Jim MacPherson said.

“He saw (Haro-Luna) put his arm around her neck. She had actually started saying her prayers. She thought she was going to die right there.”

The witness has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, MacPherson said.

“He presented (the gun) and told the man to leave her alone,” he added. “It was very fortunate he was there.”

Seeing the weapon, police say, Haro-Luna fled the parking lot and was captured shortly thereafter at the corner of Broadway and Mapleton Avenue by officers who subdued him with a Taser.