A gay former marine is being hailed as a hero for his timely intervention that averted a tragedy after an agitated man brought a grenade into a popular gay bar in Florida.
The tense moments were captured on the bar’s closed circuit camera TV videos. The incident occurred on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, around 9.26 pm, when a man walked into Corners Pub in Wilton Manors, Florida, and placed a grenade on the bar counter.
Bartender Joseph Shakespeare told local news station WPLG that the the man said he had guns in his car. Darryl Darling, a gay former marine, overheard the conversation and stepped in to help.
He started talking to the man as the owner phoned the police and the bartender tried to get the other patrons out of the bar to safety. “He was agitated at somebody in the bar, looking to pick a fight.