Florida police are thanking several strip club security guards for preventing a potential mass shooting after they blocked a man with a loaded gun wearing a devil mask from entering the club.
In dramatic surveillance video released by the Tampa Police Department, 44-year-old Michael Rudman can be seen wearing a red and black devil mask and words “kill” and “darkk one” were on his arms.
He allegedly walked toward the entrance of the venue with a firearm in one hand and a flashlight in the other, police said.
Police shared that Rudman arrived at the club at approximately 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, March 19, in a silver pickup truck.
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Security guards at Mons Venus in Tampa fought off a gunman who tried to enter the strip club early Sunday morning, police said. (Tampa Police Department)
A security guard outside the club, 55-year-old Manuel “Manny” Anthony Resto, spotted Rudman and thought it was a prank.
“It’s not Halloween. Maybe it’s some type of trick or gag. I’ve worked security for 30 years. I know a lot of bouncers. I thought it was one of my friends playing a trick on me, and he didn’t say a word,” Resto recalled to FOX 13 Tampa. “And I was waiting for the punch line. Then all of a sudden he came right up to me, and he was a very big man. Very big. I saw him raise his hand and he had a gun.”
A single round from the gun hit the front door of the venue before the security guard was able to knock it out of the suspect’s hand. (Tampa Police Department)
Upon seeing the firearm, Resto moved to stop him, knocking the weapon out of his hand. Surveillance video shows the devil-masked gunman fight with Resto who eventually grabbed the gun himself and pointed it at Rudman.
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“I concentrated on the gun and I grabbed his gun hand and his wrists with both hands, and I turned it towards him. And then we started, you…
