Two Armed Shoppers Hold Knife-Wielding Woman at Gunpoint Inside Polk County Dollar General Until Deputies Arrive

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POLK COUNTY, FL — Two armed residents drew their concealed firearms and held a knife-wielding, heavily intoxicated woman at gunpoint inside a Polk County Dollar General until deputies arrived, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in his morning briefing video. No shots were fired.

Judd identified the woman as Natalia Gaviria, 36, of Kissimmee. “She got really intoxicated and went to the Dollar General and pulled out a knife,” Judd said. “I didn’t stutter, she pulled out a knife and she’s waving it around and threatening customers.”

One of the store managers started running customers out the back door because she was afraid Gaviria was going to stab someone, Judd said. Employees were dialing 911 at the same time. Then Gaviria stabbed a soda bottle. “Soda bottle said ouch,” Judd said.

Two people in the store were carrying concealed. They drew. They held Gaviria at gunpoint. They kept her there until deputies arrived. Judd said one of the two had a permit, and that under Florida law a permit is not required to carry a concealed firearm.

“Way to go Polk County,” Judd said. “So when we got there, you might say the caper was over.”

What I appreciate here is the restraint. A woman with a knife threatening customers in a confined retail space is the kind of threat a concealed carrier may reasonably have to answer. These two did not fire. They presented, they controlled the situation, and they waited for deputies. Holding someone at gunpoint is still deadly force on the table, and the only reason to have a gun out is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm to yourself or the people around you. The mindset that got the right result was knowing where that line is and not stepping over it when the threat stopped advancing.

Judd did not name the two residents in the briefing, but he had a message for them. “Congratulations, citizens. You did what was right. You intervened when a violent felony was occurring. You kept everyone safe until the Sheriff’s Office could arrive.”

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Gaviria was taken into custody and charged with disorderly intoxication, theft of the soda bottle she stabbed, and two counts of aggravated assault. Judd said she is in the country illegally from Colombia. “Maybe you act that way in Colombia, but you don’t act that way in Florida, and you sure don’t act that way in Polk County, or we’ll pull our guns on you here,” he said, adding that once the state is done sending her to prison, she is on her way back to Colombia. The charges are allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless convicted.

Two carriers, one knife, and no one hurt. A manager cleared the customers out the back, two armed citizens held the threat in place, and deputies made the arrest.

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