The veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was set upon from behind by a masked gunman who put a gun to Noble's head across the street from Our Lady of Charity Church. He's a former paratrooper and member of the 82nd airborne.
"Mr. Noble at that point said that he reached up and grabbed, his uh instincts took over, he reached up and grabbed the person's arm and began to struggle with him and during the course of that struggle the firearm went off and it struck him in the leg," explained Brookhaven Police Chief John Eller.
Noble told police the gunman fled. He described the suspect as a heavyset black male under 6 feet tall.
Noble's wife says he is making a speedy recovery.
"It just kicked in naturally the instinct to fight thank goodness he did," said Victoria Wilson-Noble.
The bitter irony here is incredible Noble survived injuries from roadside bombing attacks in 2 U.S. war zones only now to be wounded less than a mile from his home and family in front of a church a few days before Christmas.
"It was in Afghanistan he got injured there as well as in Iraq he got injured so he survived both of them and he came home, he got medically discharged and now this."
