A potentially deadly and disturbing incident turned out much better than expected when a woman attacked by a knife-wielding teenager managed to take the knife from her attacker and stab him.

The woman was walking along the 6200 block of Second Street NW, right outside the National Children’s Center, when, according to NBC4, she heard footsteps behind her grow faster and louder, and turned around just in the knick of time. “I turned around and…[it’s] as if he was trying to grab me from a choke-hold position and he was brandishing a knife,” the woman told NBC4’s Pat Collins.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police Department says that the woman “was able to get control of the knife, and she then used it to defend herself and repel the suspect.” That doesn’t do the story justice.

The woman told NBC4 the attacker told her to give him her cell phone and she then lunged after the knife, and they both fell to the ground. “He was on top of me, the knife just so happened to fall right next to me, right next to my right hand,” the woman told Collins. She grabbed the knife and “went to work” on her attacker, conjuring up the image of a grisly scene that might be found in a Tarantino film.

According to NBC4, she stabbed the teen in the chest and in the leg, and he then ran away. Damn right. He later stumbled into a fire station not far away to seek medical treatment and was promptly arrested.

Regarding the incident and how people can prevent attacks, the woman said she “recommends everyone be cognizant of their surroundings.” Also, being a general badass helps, too.