A Maltese man resident in Ireland has been hailed in the media for the way he bravely disarmed a gunman trying to rob a bus driver in Drogheda.
Anthony Cardona, 45, was injured as he wrestled a gun off an attacker as a pair of thugs tried to rob the bus driver, according to the Irish Mirror.
Eyewitnesses said Cardona was struck with a handgun as one of the two robbers boarded the bus just as he was getting off at the Donore Road in Drogheda, Co Louth.
He told the newspaper: “On the last step as I got off the bus I felt something very hard hitting my head and all of a sudden there was this horrible noise in my ear like a whistle thing and I just collapsed.
“I went down. I thought what was happening?”
“I saw a guy coming with a baton. As I got up I realised there was a metal taste in my mouth and I saw blood. He was coming towards me and I saw the baton coming in front of my face.
“I grabbed it and I started to protect myself. I thought if I moved in closer to him it would reduce the risk of me getting struck again.
“He was starting to try and run away and I grabbed his jacket and mask and he unzipped it and ran off. I felt a mobile phone and I grabbed it too.”
Mr Cardona said he heard the sound of glass breaking and realised all the passengers on the bus were in danger.
“I thought if that guy manages to come down with the gun that someone could get seriously injured. That was the moment I knew I had to try and get that gun off him.
“I don’t know how I did it but I managed to disarm him. I thought, ‘This is one less weapon in the world’.
“When I disarmed him he still tried to attack me and I used the baton to defend myself. He threatened to find me and kill me.
“I tried to take off his mask but my legs were wobbling so much and he ran away then.”
He said he was afraid there could be accomplices waiting nearby so he hid in a nearby alley.
He saw people pass by who did not stop to help him but said he understands they were probably afraid.
He added: “I don’t blame them, seeing a gun, seeing someone with masks on, who wouldn’t keep going?”
Other passers-by called an ambulance and he was taken to the emergency department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital where he needed stitches for a large gash to his head.
His arm was also treated for soft tissue injuries.
The police said they are investigating the attempted robbery.
They said the driver was threatened by a man carrying a firearm and demanded money from him. Officers are following a definite line of enquiry into the incident and Garda Supt Gerry Smith said they were appreciative of the efforts by the passenger who was “a public-spirited person”.
Drogheda Mayor Paul Bell commended Mr Cardona's actions saying he confronted “absolute cowards preying on citizens going about their everyday business”.