This Man Jumped in Front of His Girlfriend and Her Son to Save Them From Being Shot

Gareth Lane, 35, acted as a human shield for his girlfriend, Jen Dunstan-Furniss, 35, and her 4-year old son Rio after they were shot at from four meters by a gunman moments after getting off a bus.

Fortunately, the gunman missed his target, and according to Gareth, he looked like he had “some sort of mental health issues”.

Jen, speaking of her boyfriend said:

He’s an absolute, real-life hero. I just want to shout it out from the rooftops – who needs Spider-Man when I’ve got my own real-life hero. I have been asking him about commitment but then he stands in front of a bullet for me.

Gareth, Jen and Rio

Gareth narrating the incident said:

I don’t think I’m going to have to marry Jen to prove my loyalty any more. My only concern was the safety of Jen and Rio. 

The man was being quite aggressive towards Jen during the journey -and I told him he should stop. When we got off the bus, he got off behind me and when I turned round he had pulled a gun out. I must have been four feet away from him when he fired. I don’t know how but he must have missed. I think it was a real gun because the cartridge was still smoking for a while on the ground afterwards.

Then he pulled a knife out. I went to grab a dry stone from the wall and my plan was to hit him with it, but then he just legged it. The police later told me that he then went and hijacked a car at gunpoint.

I’m still a little bit shaken up. Rio seems okay, he said he enjoyed his ride in the police car. We will have to keep an eye on him.