A Toledo waiter turned Sabira’s opening night into a floor-level fight for survival after Matthew Exton entered the Italian restaurant, aimed a handgun at his ex-wife and struggled with the safety.
Exton was found guilty last week of attempted murder over the April 2025 confrontation, which unfolded while Kayda Valone sat at a table with relatives.
Jurors saw restaurant surveillance video of Exton pointing the gun at Valone before waiter Tracy Cole, Jr. rushed him and other people inside Sabira helped pin him down.
Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates told the courtroom that no pre-opening preparation could have readied Sabira’s staff for Exton’s arrival.
“Nothing in their training and soft openings at the restaurant could have prepared the staff for what walked through that door,” Bates remarked per the Toledo Blade. “The defendant did not come with the intention of having a meal. He came with anger in him and with the intention to commit a public execution of his ex-wife at the restaurant that day.”
Exton testified that the gun was meant to force a dispute over the former couple’s home sale.
Prosecutor Rose Mock put the case back on the weapon, the crowded restaurant and the attempt to make it fire.
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“He was not there for a relationship-building effort,” Mock said during the trial. “When you fire a deadly weapon, or attempt to fire a deadly weapon, in a public place, you put everyone’s lives at risk.”
The verdict included attempted murder and two assault counts.
Exton faces as much as 25 years in prison when he returns for sentencing September 21.
Sabira later credited Toledo police and the people inside the restaurant with ending what prosecutors called an attempted public execution.
“We are deeply grateful for the swift and courageous actions taken by our team, our patrons, and the Toledo Police Department in response to an isolated domestic incident which occurred at one of our establishments on Friday evening,” the restaurant stated. “Thanks to their quick intervention, the situation was resolved.”
Another recent video showed strangers and police rushing into danger after a crash pinned an e-bike rider beneath a Volkswagen Beetle in Pennsylvania.
The 44-year-old woman was trapped under the car Monday morning in Prospect Park until officers and roughly six bystanders lifted the Beetle high enough to pull her free, FOX 29 reported.
Prospect Park Police Chief Dave Madonna estimated the rider had been going more than 20 mph without a helmet when she collided with the Volkswagen at a Route 420 intersection.
“She was driving way too fast for that time of day, for the road she was traveling on,” Madonna said.
Madonna believed the woman had been trying to get around traffic while headed to an appointment.
Surveillance and body camera video captured people converging on the crash before the group raised the vehicle off the injured rider.
FedEx driver Carl Wise told FOX 29 he heard a call for help and ran toward it.
“Got a yell to help, ran over. We lifted the Volkswagen Beetle up, pulled the girl out and pusheher to the ground so she wouldn’t move, that’s all,” Wise said.
Wise shrugged off the idea that the rescue made him a hero.
“I’m no hero. I’m just a guy doing a job, that’s all,” he said.
Madonna later thanked the bystanders in person and used the crash to question how much more harm would come before e-bike safety draws action.
“How many more tragedies do we have to see before some type of action is taken?” Madonna said.
FOX 29 reported that the rider was taken to Lankenau Hospital, where she had surgery for a broken collarbone and other injuries.
The Volkswagen driver does not face charges. The e-bike rider could still be cited, depending on the investigation.
In Oregon, deputies ended a gunfire-heavy standoff by slamming a SWAT vehicle into a compact tractor after authorities said Erik Gordon Shunn fired more than 200 rounds south of Portland.
Shunn, 53, was accused by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office of shooting at professional arborists who were cutting down trees in a rural residential and farm area.
Before deputies reached the area, a 911 caller said Shunn might have several guns, and witnesses put the gunfire toward tree company employees at about 20 rounds.
Sheriff’s office drones later found Shunn in his driveway, where CCSO said he was using a tractor to bring down trees in “an apparent attempt to create a barricade.”
The sheriff’s office said drone video also captured Shunn apparently shooting at the aircraft.
SWAT moved when Shunn drove the tractor near the front of his home without his rifle.
A CCSO SWAT vehicle rammed the tractor and pinned it against the house while team members jumped out and arrested him.
“SWAT personnel used this window of opportunity because they believed it provided the highest likelihood of safely apprehending Shunn,” CCSO officials said.
Shunn received treatment before he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
First responders evacuated neighbors and tree workers from the area. Shunn’s mother was also at the home, and no injuries were reported, according to the sheriff’s office.
Shunn was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault, recklessly endangering, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, unlawful possession of firearms, first-degree attempted criminal mischief and interfering with a peace officer.
