I've related this story many times on the air ... but now I have the details.  I found the actual story in a stack of files I'm trying to purge.  It happened at a Wall-Mart in Spring Hill, Florida on May 22, 2006.  Willie Redding was in the Wall-Mart trying to steal a VCR.  When the employees caught him he dropped the VCR and pulled out a knife, stabbing two employees.  Along comes Sandra Suter, a 53-year-old grandma.  Sandra has a concealed weapons permit .. and a gun. She pulled the gun out of her purse, pointed it at Willie Redding and told him "Drop the knife or I'll shoot you."  Willie dropped the knife and surrendered. 

So ... what's with the "foolish hysterical female" line?  Well along comes Lorinda Smith.  She was in the candy aisle whin this thing happened.  Lovely Lorinda told the media that she was more frightened by the grandma with the gun than she was by the man with the knife.  "That scared the crap out of me, that someone could have a gun in the store." 

My guess is that two years later Lorinda managed to get her tail out of the candy aisle at Wall-Mart and vote for Barack Obama.