Is there anything as American as a pistol-packing pastor who takes out an armed carjacker and then tends a wounded man until medics arrived? That’s exactly what happened in Washington state Tuesday when a local pastor — who is also a fire department lieutenant, EMT and trained concealed carry permit holder — shot and killed an attacker at a Walmart. The assailant fired shots in the store before heading to the parking lot to attempt a carjacking. He shot and wounded a male driver before turning his attention to trying to steal a second car. That’s when the pastor stepped in and shot him. He likely saved the life of the wounded driver.

We’ve reported in recent years both that gun owners are model citizens and that more armed citizens are stopping attacks than ever. What sets this one apart is that the good guy is a shepherd.

As The Resurgent’s Peter Heck reminds us, “There’s that famous scene from Mel Gibson’s ‘The Patriot’ where the local preacher, played by actor René Auberjonois, comes down out of the pulpit to grab a musket and join the American patriots in the revolution. When congregants react shocked at the sight of a rifle-toting pastor, the preacher tips his cap and says, ‘A shepherd must tend his flock, and at times fight off the wolves.’”

Washington state has at least one good shepherd.