A concealed carry holder in Cerritos, California shot and killed a man at a busy barbecue restaurant on Sunday, after the knife-wielding man rushed into the restaurant and charged towards the armed citizen after being warned to drop his blade.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the incident unfolded towards the end of the lunch rush at Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, around 2:15 PM Sunday afternoon. Witnesses say the man with the knife had already slit his own throat when he burst into the restaurant.
Eyewitness News spoke to an employee who described a graphic scene, saying that what he saw was straight out of a horror film.
“I just saw a guy run in the restaurant with his throat slit, and he had a knife. Once he went to the main dining area with all the guests, I guess there was another guest that was sitting down. He pointed a gun at him, told him to put the knife down, the guy kept walking toward him like Michael Myers. He shot him,” the employee recalled.
Investigators believe the incident began before the man reached the restaurant. The sheriff’s department source told Eyewitness News the man had been driving a stolen truck before abandoning it and stabbing himself at a nearby Starbucks on South Street.
The LASD reported that an off-duty officer was also in the restaurant, but did not draw his gun or confront the man with the knife. According to the sheriff’s department, the armed citizen remained on scene and was cooperating with investigators.
Based on the initial reporting, I’d say the armed citizen had a reasonable belief that he and other patrons were in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury, and was justified in using deadly force. Second Amendment attorney and California gun owner Kostas Moros, though, noted that anti-gun prosecutors could still bring charges against the armed citizen for carrying in a “gun-free zone.”
This is very interesting, because it appears to be a lawful self-defense shooting by a CCW permit holder here in Cerritos (about 15 minutes from me actually).
However, this restaurant serves alcohol…meaning he may have violated SB2.
If California is stupid enough to…
— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) July 20, 2026
California’s expansive list of state-mandated “gun-free zones” includes bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, so even if the armed citizen was enjoying nothing stronger than sweet tea with his pulled pork and brisket he was still technically violating the law.
Which begs the question: is Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman so opposed to the right to carry that he’d charge someone who might have saved multiple lives because they did so in a place that’s supposed to be off-limits to lawful carry? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
I’m also a little concerned about the fact that there was an off-duty officer there who didn’t draw down or confront the guy with the knife. It could very well be that he wasn’t in a position to really see what was going on or to react in time, but it’s not hard to imagine an anti-gun prosecutor arguing that there must not have been a reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury since the off-duty officer didn’t pull their gun.
If nothing else, this incident underscores how wrong the Ninth Circuit was to uphold California’s ban on lawful carrying in establishments where alcohol is served. Prohibiting carrying while intoxicated is one thing, but banning carrying where alcohol is present is a bridge too far. Thankfully, this armed citizen was either unaware of the prohibition or chose to disregard it, and in doing so may very well have saved the lives of some of his fellow customers and employees of the barbecue joint. He should be celebrated, not prosecuted, for exercising his Second Amendment rights.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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