SARASOTA, Fla.-- An Army staff sergeant is being hailed as a hero, for what he did when a man pulled out a gun and aimed it at his family. Staff SGT Eddie Peoples is an Iraq war veteran. He was on leave, at the bank with two of his boys when he came face to face with a man with a gun who police say was there to commit robbery.
"He's pointing the weapon right at me, but I don't care, I'm trying to get my children out of his line of fire," said Peoples.
With the gunman looming, Peoples tells his kids to get under the seats. He moves chairs in front of them for more protection. But soon, Peoples says, the gunman turned and threatened one of his boys.
"He can see my son, and my son is looking at him, and he points the gun and says if anyone does anything, the kiddie's gonna get it," said Peoples.
Police identified the robber as 34-year-old Matthew Rogers, and say he walked out of the bank with "tens of thousands" of dollars. After telling his kids to stay put, Peoples followed Rogers outside and headed for his rental van.
"To me, it was just I need to get this guy and he needs to go to jail. that's all it was for me. You don't point weapons at children," Peoples said.
Across the parking lot, Peoples used his van to block Roger's car, then used martial arts moves honed in the military to disarm and pin the suspect to the ground until deputies arrived.
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Soldier Dad uses military training to stop bank robber
Iraq veteran shielded his kids, before going after suspect
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As it turned out, the gun was a realistic fake, the money was recovered, and People's son had an important question.
"When i got back to the bank, he stood up and he said, 'Daddy, did you get that bad man?' and I said, 'I got that bad man,' and everyone started clapping in the bank, so that was good."
For his bravery, Peoples was given an award by the sheriff. for his kids, his status as a superhero dad was reaffirmed.
