Hero Credits God After Leaping on Suspect Who Was Stabbing Elderly Man: 'I Was Willing to Lose My Life'

A good Samaritan who stopped a stabbing suspect and subdued him inside a Walgreens until authorities arrived on the scene is crediting God for his bravery.

U.S. Air Force veteran Kennis Goodman told WIS-TV he was inside the South Carolina store when the unthinkable happened. A man allegedly began stabbing an elderly stranger in the upper body, reportedly striking him at least three times before Goodman took charge of the panic-inducing situation.

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Goodman, who was at the store as part of his work delivering DoorDash orders, heard the chaos unfolding and immediately took action.

He tackled the alleged assailant and was able to take command of the weapon.

“I kicked him off the individual and subdued him with the knife and we got into a little tussle,” Goodman told WIS-TV. “And I got him on the ground and managed to keep him there until the police arrived.”

The hero said he was in “fight or flight” mode as he worked with one mission in mind: stopping the potentially deadly violence.

While everyone is calling Goodman a hero, he is crediting the Lord.

“I am just a regular individual that just came into the store, God gave me a chance to prove myself as a good individual in this world,” he said. “And I think I took the opportunity to please him.”

Goodman said he acted knowing the potential cost, as he simply couldn’t watch the victim lose his life.

“I couldn’t stand there and watch that old man die in front of me, and then I couldn’t watch the guy doing the stabbing continue to stab,” he told WIS-TV. “If it would have gotten to the point where I got stabbed at least the older person wouldn’t have been stabbed more.”

Goodman added, “I’ll be honest — I was willing to lose my life that day.”

Columbia Police Chief W. H. “Skip” Holbrook told WIS-TV that the victim is in critical condition and that they are investigating a motive.

“Right now, it appears extremely random,” Holbrook said, noting suspect Jermaine Nedd, 47, who has been charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, is not known to police and is not in the agency’s databases.

Authorities also said in a statement that “investigators have determined that this matter is an unfortunate random act of violence with no provocation by any involved parties,” The State reported.