A 64-year-old retired U.S. Army veteran was shot three times by an illegal immigrant on Sunday after the veteran traveled to meet the individual for a Facebook Marketplace transaction involving work equipment that had been previously arranged online.
At a Wednesday press conference, Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry announced the shooter was identified as Abel Medardo Sacrab-Chen of Guatemala. He was also shot by the tactically-aware, retired Army veteran.
“I’m pissed off today,” said Gentry. “I’m pissed off that we’re having to even have this conversation. And what we’re going to talk about is an incident that happened September 1.” Gentry delved into detail about the attack.
“On Sunday, we responded to a call where an American, a veteran of 36 years, was shot. Some people always say, well, what does that have to do with what we’re talking about? So we have a veteran, an American, a 36-year veteran of the military, who was looking to purchase something online from an individual here in Cullman, who travels to Brunner Street in the city of Cullman, meets an individual who’s going to sell a piece of equipment.”
“The individual tells him that the equipment is not on site. They’ll have to go look at it. The veteran or victim felt that something wasn’t right. And so, like good, law-abiding citizens, he had his firearm with him, which is probably the only thing that saved his life. And they get in the vehicle going down the road from Brunner Street in the city of Cullman. This individual takes a knife sticks it to the victim’s throat and says, give me your money or I’m going to kill you. Well, the victim, being a veteran, being tactically aware, shoots the bad guy.”
The Sheriff then revealed the part of the crime that angered and concerned him most.
“Now, this is the interesting thing about the bad guy. He is an illegal alien who crossed the border a couple of years ago, was identified, and let go into the US to become a violent criminal in our community,” said Gentry. “Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, that pisses me off that we allow an illegal alien, who is identified as Abel Medardo Sacrab-Chen from Guatemala, into our country to make his way.”
“He’s only been in Cullman for what we know, a couple of months to make his way here, to pose and sell something on the Internet, to then try to murder and rob not only a victim but a veteran.”
Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said that Sacrab-Chen has been charged with first-degree robbery and more charges are expected.
“Being in the country illegally may get you a free house in California, but it does not entitle you to immunity from prosecution in Cullman County,” Crocker said during the press conference.
The veteran is reportedly recovering at home with his family.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
