Moment Utah 'child snatcher' is arrested after hero teacher armed with GUN 'stopped him abducting girl, 11, from elementary school playground

 This is the dramatic moment an alleged child snatcher was arrested after an armed teacher stopped him abducting an 11 year-old girl from a school playground. 

Ira Cox-Berry, 41, was filmed being cuffed and put into a police car in Ogden, Utah, after Tuesday's alleged abduction, which police say was foiled by a hero teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, which his alleged victim attends.

Cox-Berry is said to have attempted to yank the girl away from the playground during recess, only for the armed employee to shout at him to leave her alone.  

When the 41-year-old let the schoolgirl go, the teacher ushered her and 19 other students into a nearby classroom, Ogden City Police Department said in a statement. 

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Police arrested 41-year-old Ira Cox-Berry (pictured) and charged him with attempted child kidnapping

An armed school employee at Lincoln Elementary School (pictured) in Ogden held off an attempted kidnapping suspect with a firearm as he waited for police to arrive 

After the children were inside the school, Cox-Berry approached the school building and began punching the window in an attempt to force his way inside.

That was when the teacher, who has a concealed-weapons permit, pulled out his gun and held off the 41-year-old while he called 911. 

DailyMail.com spoke to the teacher involved on Thursday afternoon. He asked not to be identified over fears for his future career prospects. 

But Lt Brian Eynon of Ogden City PD told ABC4 that the teacher was a 'hero,' whose actions were covered by the law.

He said: 'This employee is protected under the Second Amendment. He followed all policy and procedure at the school, and in this particular case, did everything that he should have done to protect the innocent lives of the children at the school.

'And in this case, it is likely that a life was saved or injury to a life was prevented due to the actions of this heroic employee.' Enynon added. 

Lt. Brian Eynon of the Ogden City Police Department called the armed school employee a 'hero'

41-year-old Ira Cox-Berry was arrested after attempting to kidnap an 11-year-old girl from Lincoln Elementary School (pictured) in Ogden 

Police arrived and arrested Cox-Berry after a brief struggle.  

Lt. Eynon said the 41-year-old was on drugs at the time of his arrest. 

'The suspect was high, high on some type of narcotic' he told ABC 4. 

The school was briefly placed on lockdown after the 2:30 pm incident, the Standard Examiner reported.  

Counselors were on the school campus the following day to help the students, including the 11-year-old girl, deal with any trauma from the incident, ABC4.com reported. 

Police found no connection between Cox-Berry and the schoolgirl. 

The 41-year-old was booked and charged with attempted child kidnapping. 

Lt. Eynon called the school employee a 'hero' for his actions. 

'This teacher, in particular, was very prepared emotionally to confront a suspect he didn't know, that was most likely on drugs, could be dangerous, could have been armed, and he took it upon himself to protect and be a hero, frankly, for the children who are on scene there when this went down,'  he told ABC 4.