Following the tragic mass shooting in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that resulted in the deaths of four individuals, including a New York City Police Department officer, we must confront a vital question: Where were the heroes?

Reports indicate that the shooter walked from the curb to the entrance of 345 Park Avenue, a distance estimated at between 50 feet to 100 feet, with his assault rifle held out to his side. He approached the entrance during peak hours at 6:28 p.m., attracting the attention of numerous bystanders before entering the building and discharging his weapon. In the minute or so that bystanders saw the man, no one made an effort to notify anyone about the man’s potential danger, nor to contact the police, nor to subdue him personally.

In Nevada, nearly 50% of residents possess legal firearms. In New York, the figure is merely 20%, and although exact statistics for NYC are unavailable, given its stringent gun regulations, it is likely that this percentage is lower than 20%.

The shooter’s motive seemingly centered on the NFL — the headquarters of which is in the building where the shooting took place — and the role of football in his development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The immediate killing of an armed NYPD officer, the sole individual present who could thwart the perpetrator, was clearly not coincidental. Officer Didarul Islam heroically confronted the gunman to protect others. Yet the gunman was fully aware that, in a practically gun-free city like NYC, once the officer was down, no individual could stop him. We cannot overlook, too, that an NFL employee, Craig Clementi, courageously alerted NFL staff to the presence of a shooter despite having been struck in the back by a bullet. He is currently hospitalized.

At that point, it was merely a question of how many individuals the perpetrator could kill before the police intervened. Fortunately, he did not escalate the situation to its full potential and, for reasons unknown, he subsequently ended his own life after claiming four innocent lives.

The frequently cited adage is, “Do not be a hero.” But the Bible repeatedly calls individuals to courageous, self-sacrificial action for the good of others. Jesus says plainly, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). The Apostle Paul urges believers, “Do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).

The existence of America today is attributable to the courageous men and women who have fought for our nation, sacrificing everything for the cause of liberty.

In other words, heroes are real. They may be equipped with a firearm, a telephone or a fist. In 2019, University of North Carolina at Charlotte student Riley Howell made the ultimate sacrifice by courageously tackling a school shooter, buying other students time to escape until law enforcement could apprehend the assailant. In 2018, a man commenced shooting in a Waffle House, resulting in four fatalities; as the man reloaded, James Shaw Jr. tackled and subdued him. In 2022, Army veteran Richard Fierro subdued the perpetrator of the Club Q nightclub shooting, using the assailant’s own weapon to incapacitate him. In 2013, Antoinette Tuff, a school bookkeeper, successfully intervened and dissuaded a heavily armed student from killing, averting a shooting. In 2007, during the Virginia Tech shooting, Holocaust survivor and professor Liviu Librescu blocked the door to his classroom with his body to facilitate the escape of his students. He was murdered, and all but one of his students survived.

Heroes exist in our world. But they were not present on July 28 at 345 Park Avenue, New York City.

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