When life and death hang in the balance, some victims fight back with extraordinary courage. Join us as we explore remarkable cases where would-be victims turned the tables on their attackers. From an elderly woman defending her home to a wife overpowering a hitman, these stories showcase incredible bravery in the face of mortal danger.
00:00While we are all programmed for survival, we often don't embrace that fact.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at eight times victims turned the tables on their would-be murderers
00:10by either taking out or severely wounding their attackers.
00:13I shot him. I just grabbed the gun and shot behind me.
00:19Elderly woman kills intruder.
00:21In what should have been a rather quiet night in 2023,
00:23a 67-year-old Florida woman was woken up by a strange rattle on her door handle.
00:28The woman told deputies she first heard a front door handle shaking.
00:32Thinking it was her husband returning from work, she opened the door,
00:35only to be greeted by 64-year-old Reginald Best, who barged in uninvited.
00:40Despite her repeated requests for him to leave, he refused and then raised his hands,
00:44revealing a weapon, fearing for her life.
00:47She used her own gun to shoot him and called 911 soon after.
00:51Authorities later confirmed they had earlier received disturbing calls from Best and another neighbor.
00:55The sheriff hailed the woman's decisive action, stating that she had the right to defend herself.
01:00She wasn't alone in the residence.
01:02She also had her 90-year-old mother, who's an Alzheimer's patient, in the home with her.
01:05So had she not had the foresight to arm herself,
01:09there's a high probability we may be investigating a double homicide right now where Best would have been the suspect.
01:14For Best, though, this encounter proved fatal.
01:16We have spoken to quite a few of the neighbors all up and down this strip here.
01:20They are all saddened by this, some in tears, because they say they have known this man for more than 20 years,
01:25and they say what he is accused of is out of character.
01:28Store employee shoots armed robber.
01:31Armed and presumably ready to kill, a 28-year-old robber walked into a Happy Day food market in southwest Philadelphia.
01:37That suspect actually had a wad of cash inside of his pocket, their pocket, when that store employee shot them.
01:46With his face partially masked and gloves on, he pointed his gun at an employee and began taking cash from the register.
01:52He had a handgun, he pointed it at one of the employees, then went behind the counter,
02:00and point of gun, started taking money from the cash register.
02:06That's when an employee drew his own gun and fired multiple times.
02:10The robber died at the scene, and no one else in the store was reported injured.
02:14The police ruled the shooting as self-defense.
02:16Due to previous robberies, the employee had reportedly obtained a gun license and received shooting training.
02:22And that's where he collapsed on the scene, where medics pronounced him dead at 1045.
02:27Texas woman shoots home invader.
02:29In 2024, a DeSoto, Texas woman on her way back from a nearby Taco Bell noticed a truck following her.
02:36A quiet DeSoto cul-de-sac was disrupted Friday evening.
02:39I just heard one gunshot go out first, then it was followed by two more.
02:44When it pulled into her driveway, she ran inside, called 911, and grabbed a handgun.
02:49Moments later, as the armed man tried to break in through the rear garage door, she shot at him multiple times.
02:55Neighbors, startled by the chaos, also called 911.
02:58There was a lot of confusion going on, and shortly thereafter, the DeSoto police department showed up.
03:03Police soon arrived and identified the armed man as 35-year-old Octavio Flores Mondragon.
03:08But that's not all. Turns out, he had been shot in the chest and face, but was still alive.
03:13He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, though the woman's shots did not kill him.
03:17She thwarted what could have been a deadly attack.
03:20DeSoto police tell me they're still investigating a motive in this case,
03:24and they're also investigating to see if the suspect is connected to other crimes or calls in that neighborhood as well.
03:31Woman shoots intruder.
03:32What do you do when your life is threatened and you're backed into a corner?
03:38For one 55-year-old Alaskan woman, the answer was fierce self-defense.
03:46This happens Sunday afternoon, we're told, in the 300 block of East Merrill Avenue.
03:51On a Friday night in 2021, an intruder broke into her house wielding an axe.
03:56The man, a 66-year-old who was reportedly intoxicated, had threatened to kill her.
04:00But things didn't go quite as he planned, as she had a gun which she used.
04:04This intruder was eventually taken to the hospital, where he underwent surgery for non-life-threatening injuries.
04:10No charges were filed against the woman.
04:12In the end, this woman didn't just survive.
04:14She flipped the script on a night that could have ended in tragedy.
04:17Not clear if the victim and the suspect knew each other.
04:20The investigation is ongoing.
04:22CVS worker stabs serial shoplifter.
04:24In 2023, 50-year-old unhoused serial shoplifter Charles Brito stormed a Midtown Manhattan CVS store where Scotty Eno worked.
04:33Witnesses say Brito made threatening comments towards female employees, punched Eno multiple times, and even bashed his head against a cooler.
04:40After being battered, Eno pulled out his folding knife and struck back, leaving Brito with two stab wounds to the liver.
04:46The injuries were fatal, with the result that Eno was charged with manslaughter.
04:50Was it murder or self-defense?
04:52Eno's defense lawyer argued that he had the right to defend himself as he was violently assaulted.
04:58You can get stabbed and still be attacking somebody.
05:00It's not necessarily going to stop you in your tracks.
05:03The jury agreed with that argument, finding Eno not guilty of manslaughter in 2025.
05:08Wife overpowers hit man.
05:10Fueled by adrenaline and a strong will to live, Susan Kuhnhausen survived a deadly attack in 2006.
05:16She had just gotten home from her shift as a nurse at an Oregon hospital,
05:19when 59-year-old Edward Haffey ambushed her with a claw hammer, hitting her.
05:23It became quickly clear that his intent was murder.
05:27Despite the blow, Susan used her defense skills to fight back.
05:30He caught up with her in the hallway and punched her in the face, but she managed to overpower him, eventually choking him.
05:36She then ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.
05:39When police arrived, they found Haffey's lifeless body.
05:42In a shocking twist, investigations revealed that Susan's husband, Michael Kuhnhausen, hired Haffey to kill her.
05:47You know, he wasn't an evil person.
05:49He was a person with significant issues who could never work through those issues.
05:55Michael was arrested and convicted, while Susan became an advocate for victims' rights.
05:59My goal is always to make this journey easier for anyone else who has to take it.
06:04Husband shoots serial killer.
06:05In September 1986, Doug and Chris Wells of Montana lived through a nightmare that unmasked a serial killer, the Missoula Mahler.
06:13Chris and Doug, they arrived at home.
06:16It's 100 Parker Court.
06:18While at their home, their co-worker, Wayne Nance, struck Doug on the head.
06:22He then tied up both Doug and Chris, stabbed Doug in the chest, and left him to die in the basement.
06:27And as soon as he turns his back to go inside, Nance strikes him in the back of her head with a length of pipe.
06:35Nance dragged Chris upstairs, intending to assault her.
06:38Undeterred by his injury, Doug managed to break free.
06:41He loaded one bullet in his rifle and lured Nance away from Chris.
06:45As the fight intensified, Doug fired, hitting Nance, who died the following day in the hospital.
06:50Investigations later linked Nance to multiple past murders.
06:54Multiple murders without detection for over a decade.
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07:13Woman's bravery stops serial killer.
07:16What was supposed to be a casual meeting for Heather Saul turned into a fight for her life.
07:20In 2015, Neal Falls met Saul online and tracked down her address in West Virginia.
07:26Once inside her home, he held her at gunpoint and tried to strangle her.
07:30He just wouldn't let me get any air.
07:32Fueled by Ross' survival instinct, Saul picked up a rake and fought back.
07:36When Falls set his gun down to seize the rake, she acted fast by grabbing the gun and firing behind her.
07:41The shot struck Falls in the head, killing him instantly.
07:44What police discovered in Falls' car was an arsenal of weapons, linking him to several murders across multiple states.
07:51Detectives found a machete, axes, knives, a shovel and a sledgehammer, bleach, plastic trash bags, a bulletproof vest, and four sets of handcuffs.
08:00A list of potential victims was also found.
08:03They're safe, all thanks to Saul's fearlessness.
08:06Police are not charging Heather for the shooting, which they say was in self-defense.
08:11I knew he was there to kill me.
08:12Who do you think is the most courageous among these victims?
08:15Let us know in the comments section.
08:17I didn't choose my attacker's death for him, I chose my life.
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