If this Guardian report is true, I hope that Royston Smith is on the next honours list:
Southampton city council leader, Royston Smith, was visiting the submarine with other dignitaries while it was berthed at the Eastern Docks on a five-day visit to the city.
He described how he “wrestled” the gunman to the ground in the submarine’s control room as he tried to stop him.
“Two shots were fired, straight after he entered the control room again and began shooting again,” Smith told the BBC.
“I ran towards him, I pushed him against the wall, we wrestled to take the gun from him. He fired again, I wrestled again to get the weapon from him. I pushed him to another wall, I wrestled him to the ground and managed to take the weapon away from him then others came to help to restrain him.”
He said a group of schoolchildren had left the submarine shortly before the attack.
That’s a civilian, charging a gunman armed with a battle rifle, and disarming him before the trained military personnel could intervene. There are very few people who could have reacted so quickly — and correctly — in that situation. That’s heroism.
