A Columbus man says he’ll keep an armed vigil at a west side military recruiting center. Larry Fitzpatrick’s actions are a response to the shootings in Chattanooga.
Fitzpatrick says he spent a sleepless night following the shooting deaths of five members of the military by Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez.
“It ripped out my gut. It hurt,” Fitzpatrick says.
The next day, Fitzpatrick went to the Armed Forces Career Center on West Broad Street carrying a .22 caliber rifle.
“They’re going to have to drag me away from here. Until there’s bullet-proof glass across those doors and somebody – a private contractor, an MP, a marine, somebody with a gun to protect these people and they’re not sitting ducks, I’ll be here,” Fitzpatrick says.
He says he’ll end the vigil when security at the center is increased.
