North Carolina Rep. Plays Hero
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Rep. Bob Etheridge (search) helped police subdue a woman who interrupted an elementary school appearance, saying she had a gun.
Etheridge was visiting L.C. Kerr Elementary School (search) on Tuesday when a woman started talking about visions of demons.
The woman walked to the front of the room to her two children. Teachers and administrators at first thought she was posing for photos, but then she became hysterical.
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As police approached her, she said she had a gun.
According to Etheridge, the woman said, "I'll kill you," then reached into her purse. He said he grabbed the woman, who was within a few feet of him, and held her arms to her side until she could be subdued.
"I didn't want her bringing her hand out of that bag," Etheridge said. "I didn't know what she had in it."
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Police said they found no gun in the woman's purse, but did find one in her car. The woman, whose name had not released late Tuesday, was in custody and faced a possible mental evaluation.
The congressman stopped by the school to recognize 631 students who together read 98,113 books in nine months.