MORTON, Ill. (WLS) —
James Vernon, 75, an Army veteran, fought off a knife-wielding man who tried to attack a group of children in a library Tuesday in Morton, just outside of Peoria.
“I didn’t have any weapons except [my hands], so I grabbed him and threw a knee at him and my weight pushed him back,” he says.
“I’ll not use the word hero on myself,” he says, “but I did something that required some courage.”