Jaw-dropping footage shows the moment a fearless Ohio waiter saved a customer’s life — by tackling her ex-husband as he tried to shoot her at point-blank range.
Disgraced lawyer Matthew Exton, 43, whipped out a handgun, aimed it at his former spouse and appeared to squeeze the trigger as she sat inside the Italian restaurant Sabira in Toledo on April 11, 2025, according to footage and local station WTOL.
But the gun miraculously didn’t fire because he had left the safety on — so Exton appeared to try again as onlookers screamed and shouted, “No!”
Footage shows Matthew Exton aiming a gun at his ex wife at Sabira restaurant on April 11, in Toledo, Ohio. ViralPress As he fumbled with the weapon, hero waiter Tracy Cole, Jr. barreled toward the unhinged attacker and wrestled him to the ground, according to The Toledo Blade.
Cole was hailed as a hero for keeping murder off the menu.
“Nothing in their training … could have prepared the staff for what walked through that door,” Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates told WTOL.
“The defendant did not come with the intention of having a meal. He came with anger in him and with the intention to commit a public execution of his ex-wife at the restaurant that day.”
Exton — then a criminal defense attorney in the area — was found guilty of attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault Friday.
Hero waiter Tracy Cole Jr .tackled Matthew Exton as he tried to shoot his ex wife. ViralPress He had been drinking at a bar next to the Italian-inspired restaurant when he spotted his ex-wife, who has not been identified, sitting with her family during the eatery’s opening night, prosecutors said.
He first sent his ex a drink then spat at her as he left the restaurant before returning and whipping out the gun, according to prosecutors.
The gun was loaded with one round in the chamber and seven more in the magazine, according to prosecutors.
During his trial, Exton testified that he didn’t mean to pull the trigger and claimed he pointed the gun at his ex-wife to pressure her to speed up the sale of their former home, according to the Blade.
Exton, who previously had law offices in Sylvania and Traverse City, Michigan, had his law license suspended in May of 2025 due to the incident.
