Dallas, Texas

From CBS11 of January 30, 2008

Dallas Store Clerk Turns Tables On Would-Be Robber

Dallas police say a store clerk came face to face with a would-be robber, but this time it’s the suspect that ended up in the hospital.

The Motions Convenience Store, in the 800 block of South Corinth Street, is open 24 hours and sadly that sometimes makes it a convenient target for criminals.

On Wednesday police say a man came into the store at 4 a.m. and found that clerk Benny Brown was more than a match for him.

Brown wouldn’t talk about details of what turned into a shooting incident, but said he remembers feeling fear as it unfolded. “Kinda rough, kinda rough. I really feel bad,” Brown said. “I’m just, I’m still kinda nervous.”

Police say what Brown did was defend himself when he saw the suspect with a semi-automatic handgun. Brown took a gun, that’s left at the store, and fired it three times.

“This is something I wouldn’t want to wish on anybody,” Brown explained.

The suspect staggered away from the store empty handed and hours later a man, matching the suspect’s description, showed up at Parkland Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

“Parkland Hospital called us regarding this gunshot victim,” explained Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse with the Dallas Police Department. “We’re not sure if he had been in the hospital that entire time or if he tried to tend to his own wounds.”

The suspect has been identified as 26-year-old Christopher Marquis Wade. Wade, who was listed in fair condition at Parkland, will be charged with aggravated robbery.

Given the circumstances and the history of the area, store patrons and police feel Brown’s actions were justified. “Your safe during the day and a night you kinds gotta watch for yourself,” one customer told CBS 11 News. “I think a person has a right to defend their property.”

According to police reports Brown had seen the suspect several times in the past. He told authorities that when the man showed up at the store today it seemed ’suspicious’.

Bosque County, Texas

From the Waco Tribune-Herald of January 30, 2008

Clerk shoots at would-be robber

A Bosque County store clerk refused to be a crime victim for a second time in less than a year by shooting at a masked man who tried to rob him Tuesday morning.

No customers were in the Lake Stop Store at 340 State Highway 22 in Laguna Park at 10:16 a.m. when a man wearing a mask entered, said owner Balbar Deo, who wasn?t at the store at the time of the attempted robbery. The masked man was carrying an unknown weapon under his jacket, according to a Bosque County Sheriff?s Department press release. When the clerk saw this, he reached under the counter and pulled out a .22-caliber gun and shot twice at the would-be robber.

The store clerk, in his mid-30s, left early because he wasn?t feeling well, Deo said Tuesday afternoon.

Deo said the clerk had been robbed and badly beaten at the store last summer.

But Tuesday, the would-be robber fled the store after the clerk fired. The man drove away in a silver vehicle, according to the sheriff?s department.

A vehicle matching that description was stopped later that day by deputies in Hill County.

Officers arrested Stafford L. Jones, of Waco, in the case. Jones, 28, confessed to the attempted robbery and told deputies he had been grazed by the clerk?s bullets, the release stated. He was treated at Goodall-Witcher Hospital in Clifton, then booked into the Bosque County Jail on a robbery charge, the release stated. His bond had not been set late Tuesday, officials said.

Deo said he plans to install a glass barrier around the cashier?s desk for future protection.

San Antonio, Texas

From January 29, 2008 My San Antonio:

A North Side mother fought off an armed intruder inside her apartment early Tuesday morning.

“I was telling him, ‘Please do not kill me in front of my baby,’ ” said the 24-year-old victim, who does not want to be identified.

According to police, a masked man broke in through a downstairs window in an apartment complex in the 8000 block of Bentley. Then, he made his way through the victim’s home.

“I thought I heard somebody trying to open up my door,” the victim said. “I jumped up, looked in my hallway, and I didn’t see anybody.”

A short time later, the armed intruder started kicking in the woman’s bedroom door. The woman tried to knock out her bedroom window to scream for help and call 9-1-1 at the same time. But the man made it into the room with her and her 2-year-old son.

“I was crying just telling him not to kill me, that I would do anything he wanted me to do,” the woman recounts.

The mother says she hit him with a lamp, bit his hand, and even tried to shoot him with his own gun, but the weapon would not go off. The suspect ran out the room, giving her a chance to call the police after she barricaded herself in with a dresser.

Augusta, Georgia

From WRDW of January 28, 2008

Augusta homeowner shoots suspected burglary in leg

One man admits he shot another, but it’s the man who was shot who went to jail.

The Thurman family says after two people stole from them they got a security system and a gun. Now, they say, they’ve both come in handy.

“As soon as [the motion sensor] went off, we were able to look out the window and see that he had opened the door to the truck,” said Michael Thurman.

He says he thought it was a burglar.

So he grabbed his gun, ran downstairs and went outside.

“When I saw him right here I said hey what are you doing?” Thurman said.

An incident report shows the suspect, Jeffery Whitt, started to run to a dark part of the yard.

Thurman says he couldn’t see him and was afraid he might be going to get a gun.

“Anything could’ve been in [the] area, so I did what I thought I needed to protect myself and my family. I fired a few shots,”

One of those shots into the dark hit the suspect in the leg.

Whitt kept running down the street and ended up at Macedonia Baptist Church.

Deputies arrested him and took him to MCG.

Thurman says his GPS system was missing and deputies found one between his house and the church.

Michael’s wife says she’s glad her husband stood up for her.

“I am proud that I have a husband that would protect his family,” Angela Thurman said.

Michael’s thankful his bullet only hurt the suspect, but even happier it helped deputies catch him.

But still, he says he and his wife may have some sleepless nights.

“I’m still shaking from the incident. Going through anything like that is horrible,” Michael said.

Dover, Delaware

From the News Journal of January 28, 2008

Teen bandits flee after store clerk takes gun

A store clerk turned the tables on a pair of armed robbers during an attempted holdup at a convenience store, Dover police said today.

Two teens walked into the Little Grocer convenience store on East Division Street about 9 p.m. Sunday and demanded money, Lt. James Hosfelt said.

When one of the bandits brandished a sawed-off shotgun in the direction of the clerk behind the counter, the gunman and clerk got into a physical confrontation, Hosfelt said.

The clerk refused to hand over any money from the register and then grabbed the shotgun out of the hand of the would-be robber.

After the clerk established control of the situation, the two bandits went running from the store, Hosfelt said.

Houston, Texas

From Click2Houston of January 23, 2008

Grocery Store Guard Shoots At Shoplifting Suspect

A grocery store security guard opened fire on a shoplifting suspect on Tuesday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Houston police said the guard at the Fiesta store on Hillcroft Street near Bellaire Boulevard spotted the man inside the store at about 6:45 p.m.

The guard was waiting for the man as he left the store, officials said. The man elbowed the guard as he tried to stop him, police said.

Investigators said the guard fired a warning shot as the man ran away.

Police tracked the man down about a block away. An ambulance was called out to treat the man for an injury he suffered when he fell on concrete.

Miami Township, Ohio

From the WHIO of January 26, 2008

Double Shooting In Miami Township Kills 1

A double shooting in Miami Township Friday night killed one person and injuried another.

The shooting happened a litte before midnight on Soldier?s Home Road west of Miamisburg.

The homeowner shot and killed an intruder who shot a woman inside the home, police said.

A woman was taken by care flight with a gunshot wound, police said.

The names have not been released of those who were involved.

St. Charles, Missouri

From the January 25, 2008 Belleville [Missouri] News-Democrat:

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The prosecuting attorney in St. Charles County rules that the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man by his stepfather was justifiable homicide.

Prosecutor Jack Banas says no charges will be filed against Dr. John Gentles in the death of his stepson, 26-year-old Marshall Fink. Banas says Gentles acted in self-defense.

Fink was shot on Jan. 11. Banas says Fink had shown increasingly erratic and often violent behavior over the past 18 months, and relatives feared for their safety. His mother says Fink was bipolar and had lived at home since being discharged from the Navy because of his illness.

Authorities say Fink threatened both his mother and stepfather on the day of the shooting.

Houston, Texas

From the Houston Chronicle of January 25, 2008

Attempted robbery ends with shootout in north Houston

An attempted robbery outside a convenience store in north Houston on Friday afternoon ended in a shootout between the robber and his intended victim, police said.

Both men were taken to hospitals and described as stable with gunshot wounds to their torsos following the shooting in front of Handi Food Mart in the 500 block of Yorkshire.

According to police, the gunman approached the son of the store’s owners in the parking lot and tried to rob him at gunpoint about 3:20 p.m.

But the intended victim managed to pull out his gun, said Sgt. Robert Odom of HPD’s homicide division.

Several shots were fired and both men were wounded, Odom said.

The suspect was taken to Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center while the intended victim was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was in surgery. The names of both men were withheld.

Residents living on street where the store is were shaken by the shooting.

When Mary Rogers drove home Friday afternoon to find police tape cordoning off The Handi Food Mart down the street, she felt tears well in her eyes.

“I was getting ready to start crying,” said Rogers, 54. “I hate this happening because this neighborhood is basically quiet.”

The little family-owned and operated store has been a neighborhood fixture for years, she said. The store owners have a large brood of grown children, many of whom help out at the store, Rogers said.

“Most of the people here know them,” Rogers said. “They’re just as sweet as they can be. Always give people credit when they need it.”

“They help everybody out and they know everybody pretty much by name,” agreed Debra Sanchez, who lives across the street from the Handi Food Mart. Her 16-year-old son was inside the store getting quarters to do the laundry when the shooting happened.

“Man this is just too close to home, you know?” Sanchez said, shivering in the cold as daylight began to fade.

Atlanta, Georiga

From WXIA of January 25, 2008

Wheelchair-bound Man Shoots Attacker

A homeowner who is confined to a wheelchair shot and wounded a man who confronted him on his door step, Atlanta police told 11Alive News.

The homeowner was on his way out of his house on Flat Shoals Avenue Friday morning when he ran into a man at his door. The homeowner asked the man to leave, but the man started to assault the homeowner, authorities said.

During a struggle, the homeowner grabbed a gun and shot the attacker in the arm and chest.

The suspect was taken to the hospital. His condition was not known.

The homeowner was not injured.

Orange County, Virginia

From the Culpeper Star Exponent of January 21, 2008

Security guard shoots man at Lake of the Woods

A security guard at Lake of the Woods in Orange County shot a man in the hip shortly after midnight Sunday, causing a minor injury.

According to State Police spokesperson Sgt. Les Tyler, the guard was investigating a 911 call from a residence on Wilderness Lane. Tyler said a man answered the door, became combative and assaulted the guard, who then drew his gun.

The man was taken to Mary Washington Hospital, then sent to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond. His injuries are not life-threatening, Tyler said.

The State Police have not released any names, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Memphis, Tennessee

From Eyewitness News of January 24, 2008

Two Accused Burglars Shot; One Dead

Memphis Police say two burglars were shot in two separate robbery attempts and one of the crooks is dead.

The first robbery attempt happened on East Peebles in South Memphis just before Midnight, Wednesday, January 23, 2008. Investigators say two burglars rammed a car through the Hall Feed and Supply Store. The business owner was in the store at the time and shot one of the crooks, police say.

According to investigators, the wounded robber checked himself into the hospital and is in critical condition at the Med. Police say the other crook may have gotten away.

…

No charges have been filed against [the man]. Police say they will turn the evidence over to the Attorney General and he will decide if charges should be filed. Investigators say that usually there are no charges filed and they are taken on a case by case basis.

Memphis, Tennessee

From MyEyewitnessNews of January 24, 2008

Homeowner Shoots and Kills Burglar

A burglar, caught redhanded breaking into man’s garage, was shot and killed Thursday, January 24, 2008.

The incident happened around 2:00 a.m. in the 800 block of Avalon, near Henry Street. Police say the homeowner heard a noise in his garage, and when he confronted the intruder, the man tried to attack. Police say the burglar went after the homeowner with a weedwacker, and the homeowner shot him.

Neighbors in the area say they have no sympathy for the burglar.

“You don’t go around stealing and robbing from people that have worked hard for their belongings. You just don’t do it,” said Marilynn Bridgeforth, a neighbor of the homeowner.

Bridgeforth says she is not surprised to hear about the intrusion. She says she was robbed in her driveway in December.

“I was held at gunpoint in my driveway and my house has been broken into twice.”

Police say at this point, the homeowner is not facing any charges because it appears he shot the burglar in self defense. Eyewitness News Everywhere tried to talk to the homeowner, but he did not want to talk about the incident.

Eyewitness News Everywhere crimetracked the area around the 800 block of Avalon and found there have been 18 home burglaries reported to police in the past month. There have also been 55 assaults, 24 car burglaries, and 12 robberies in that 38107 zip code.

Further links:
Citizens Shoot Back When Confronted by Robbers

Plum, Pennsylvania

From the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader of January 24, 2008

Plum man won’t be charged for shooting intruder, prosecutor says

Allegheny County prosecutors say they won’t charge a man who shot an intruder at a suburban Pittsburgh apartment.

Authorities say 68-year-old James Bodnar told them he shot the man in both legs when he tried to enter Bodnar’s Plum Borough apartment about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 9.

Police believe 21-year-old Justin Jones of Auburn, N.Y., thought he was entering his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in the same complex.

Police say Bodnar opened the door and showed Jones the gun after Jones tried to kick in the door. Police say Bodnar shot Jones when he still tried to enter.

Jones is in the county jail awaiting a preliminary hearing Wednesday on attempted trespassing and other charges.

Further links:

Plum police ask DA to review intruder shooting

Nashville, Tennessee

From News Channel 15 of January 23, 2008

Home Invasions Keep Police Busy Overnight

Home invasions plagued North and South Nashville homes overnight.

The first home invasion happened at a home off McKinnie Avenue where police said four men entered through the opened front door and ransacked the house.

The victim was able to grab his hand gun and fire several shots before the suspects fled.

Police thought some of the men drove off in a car, while others may have made their getaway on foot.

A K-9 unit on the scene did pick up a scent but was not able to track the suspects.

The victim was not able to give police a good description of any of the suspects.