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Katie and Matt Claxton(Photo: Submitted photo)
<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of the headline and dateline<span style="color: Red;">*</span>accompanying this story misstated the state where the incident occurred.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—A Missouri woman says<span style="color: Red;">*</span>if it wasn't for the Second Amendment right to carry arms, she might not be here today.
On Sunday evening,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Katie Claxton was sitting in a car with her four young children while her husband was pumping gas, when a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>man wielding a large knife approached her vehicle. Claxton<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said she cringes to think what might have happened if her husband hadn't pointed a gun at the man and scared him off.
"Our Second Amendment right to carry is what saved our lives," Claxton said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"If we didn't have our right to carry,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>I feel like we wouldn't be here today."
Claxton said she reached over to try to lock the doors as the man approached, but she accidentally rolled down the window. Claxton said the man opened the door,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>leaned into the car and brandished a long knife.
Claxton said she yelled for her husband Matt to get his gun, and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the man then began to leave.
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"He said 'You're lucky he has a gun,'" Claxton said. "And then he shut the door and started to back away."
David Middleton<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Greene County Jail)
Claxton said her husband pointed his Beretta handgun at the man and called 911 as the man slowly walked away.
The family then began following the man in its vehicle as he walked down Sunshine Street.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Claxton said the man tried unsuccessfully to get into some cars that were waiting at a nearby intersection, and police officers then<span style="color: Red;">*</span>arrived and arrested<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the man.
Springfield Police Department spokeswoman Lisa Cox confirmed Claxton's account is consistent with the police report<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that was presented to prosecutors on Monday afternoon.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Claxton said the officers were "amazing," but she is happy her husband was able to protect her family until police arrived.
"You don't go out looking for trouble," Claxton said. "But if trouble comes knocking, you're there to answer."
Police say they arrested David Middleton, 42, in connection with the incident. He had not been charged as of Monday evening.
Claxton posted about the incident on her Facebook page. As of 8 p.m. on Monday, the post had been shared more than 6,700 times.
Claxton doesn't enjoy all of the attention, but she said she wanted to alert people about the incident<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in case the suspect is released from the Greene County Jail before charges are filed.
Claxton said her four children, all younger than 8, have struggled comprehending what happened Sunday night, but she is just glad they were not harmed.
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