A former Marine working on his truck in Maryland turned a sidewalk robbery attempt into a beatdown after one of four armed teenagers allegedly pointed a handgun at his head and demanded his keys, phone and valuables.
The confrontation unfolded this week in Oxon Hill, just outside Washington, D.C., where Jheyco Borda was repairing his pickup truck near Oxon Hill High School when the group approached.
Surveillance footage showed the hooded teens closing in on Borda as he stood beside the vehicle. At first, he thought they were just kids messing around.
“I saw six kids come by playing around… and out of my corner of my eye, they stepped in front of my car,” Borda remarked.
Then he noticed the shift. “I saw them put on a face mask. As soon as I figured that one out, I was like, something’s about to go down.”
The situation escalated when one of the teens allegedly pulled a handgun and demanded Borda hand over his truck keys, cellphone and other belongings.
Borda said he told the armed teen the truck was running and the keys were already inside.
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When they wanted his phone too, he complied — but only long enough to spot an opening.
“I gave [my phone] to him. When he got distracted looking at my phone, that was the split second when I grabbed the gun out of his hand,” he continued.
Video captured Borda lunging at the teen, grabbing his arm and throwing him to the ground as the robbery attempt dissolved into a street fight.
The other suspects initially scattered. But one of them circled back toward the struggle, only to be met by Borda’s brother, who rushed outside and tackled him.
Borda later told WTTG-TV that his military instincts took over almost instantly. “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
The teen with the gun was wearing red, white and blue, according to the station, which reported that surveillance footage showed him pointing the weapon directly at Borda’s head.
The brief distraction with the phone gave the Marine veteran his chance.
Borda said he disarmed the teen while his brother, who plans to enlist in the Air Force, ran out to help.
The brothers eventually held the suspects down until Prince George’s County police arrived and took them into custody.
“We are trained to fight or flight and it was my instinct in a split second,” Borda told WUSA 9. “Every split second counts a lot, and they teach us that in there.”
During the struggle, the gun went off and struck Borda’s truck, according to Fox 5.
No injuries were reported. Borda said he was thankful the encounter ended without anyone being hurt.
“I’m feeling grateful,” the veteran told WTTG. “I’m still here, safe, with my family.” Police later took all four teens into custody.
The Maryland robbery attempt came weeks after another Marine veteran helped Massachusetts State Police stop an alleged gunman during a chaotic shooting on Memorial Drive in Cambridge.
Police said Cambridge officers were alerted around 1 p.m. on a Monday in early May that a man acting erratically with a rifle may have been in the area.
State police then encountered what authorities described as an active shooter scene.
A military veteran with a concealed carry permit confronted the gunman alongside a trooper.
“After being confronted, the suspect allegedly continued to fire the weapon striking the State Police Cruiser,” Cambridge police said. “Both the civilian and the Trooper fired their weapons and the suspect was struck multiple times in the extremities. The suspect was treated on scene by police officers and transported to a Boston hospital.”
Video obtained by CBS News Boston showed the rifleman firing on Memorial Drive. Authorities said at least 60 rounds were fired.
The suspect, identified as 46-year-old Tyler Brown, had a long criminal history that included a five-to-six-year prison sentence for firing at police officers in 2020, according to a 2021 release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
In that earlier case, Brown fired a .40-caliber Glock at an officer and unleashed at least 13 rounds before pleading guilty to several charges, including armed assault with intent to murder.
Brown is now being held while receiving hospital treatment. Cambridge police said he could face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.
One woman who escaped while the veteran engaged the gunman credited the armed citizen with saving lives.
“It doesn’t feel like you should get out of the car when there is a shooter coming toward you, but there was a man next to me,” driver Rachael Saveriano said. “He opened my car door, pulled me out, and told me to run.”
Saveriano said she ran to safety and later took refuge in a hotel while the Marine veteran fired at Brown. She described him as “an absolutely incredible hero who saved lives.”
Later that month in California, a Navy sailor was shot six times after stepping in during a terrifying home invasion that was captured live on a friend’s online stream.
The April 18 shooting happened at a Tarzana home where sailor Matthew Horn was visiting his friend Aesdr, an online streamer.
Aesdr said four men burst into the home shortly before 2 a.m. and demanded $2,500.
When the men refused a partial payment offer and threatened to kill everyone inside, Horn intervened.
“I let him know I’m military, hopefully to scare him off, hopefully make him run,” Horn told FOX 11. “Nope. He just pulled out a gun and shot me six times: three times in the front, three times in the back. He was trying to kill me.”
Horn said he armed himself with bear spray and warned the intruders to leave. “I said, ‘If you don’t leave, I’m gonna spray you,’” he remarked. “I ran in there because I wanted them out of there.”
Aesdr said he tried to negotiate before the shooting. “I said, ‘I’ll give you half of what you’re asking for,’” he recalled. “They said, ‘No, we want the full amount, or we’ll kill all you guys.’”
Horn was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and later underwent surgery, though he continues dealing with serious medical issues from the shooting.
Aesdr called him a hero for stepping in. “Matthew is my hero,” he praised. “He’s everyone else’s hero that was in this house.”
Authorities arrested 22-year-old Sean Strong, who has been charged with attempted murder and is being held on $2 million bail.
