Clermont, Florida

From November 28, 2009 WFTV channel 9:

According to officials, the homeowner, 70-year-old Russell Conrad, was awakened by the sound of his truck’s horn early Saturday morning. When he went outside to investigate, he found a man inside his truck.

Conrad fired warning shots and ordered the man out of his truck twice. When the suspect finally got out of the truck, he ran towards Conrad. Conrad told officials he was in fear for his life so shot the suspect, killing him.

Melbourne, Florida

From Florida Today of November 18, 2009

Melbourne store owner shoots, wounds robber

A 70-year-old convenience store owner shot at two men who robbed him at his business Tuesday evening, injuring at least one of them.

Melbourne police said that at about 6:30 p.m. two men entered Gloco Grocery and Soul Food Deli at the corner of South Harbor City Boulevard and Jernigan Avenue and ordered food.

At one point, there was talk of exchanging a $50 bill for change with the owner of the store, identified by Melbourne police as Willie Byrd.

“Then, one of them pulled a small-caliber gun on (Byrd),” said Cmdr. Ron Bell of Melbourne police. The robbers then grabbed for an undisclosed amount of cash.

While all this was going on, Byrd reached for a .357-caliber gun and started shooting at the two robbers, police said.

Read the rest of this entry

Cocoa, Florida

From Florida Today of November 25, 2009

Store manager shoots robber

A store manager shot and wounded an armed man during an attempted robbery at a Chevron gas station near U.S. 1 and Peachtree Street on Tuesday night.

At about 9:20 p.m., a man entered the store and pointed a large-caliber handgun at the store manager and demanded money. The store manager, Sowann Suy, 40, instead pulled out a gun from below the counter and started firing.

The man was shot once in the abdomen. He did not fire his weapon and immediately left the store, collapsing in the parking lot, where Cocoa police found him when they arrived a few minutes later. Suy called 9-1-1 right after the shooting.

Police did not release the suspect’s name.

No other customers or store employees were in the station at the time of the incident.

The man, 40, was flown via helicopter to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, where he was undergoing surgery at press time. His condition was critical but stable, said Officer Barbara Matthews, police spokeswoman.

Suy is a member of a family that has owned the gas station for about five years, police said.

“He absolutely had the right to defend himself,” Matthews said.

When Suy’s wife, Tina, arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, her husband had already been taken to police headquarters for questioning. Matthews said officers reviewed the video surveillance tapes at the store to find out exactly what happened.

“I haven’t even talked to my husband yet. I don’t know exactly what is going on,” said Tina Suy, adding that the store was robbed once before since the family has owned it, in 2008.

This is the second time in a week a local store owner has shot someone trying to rob his business. The 70-year-old owner of Gloco Grocery and Soul Food Deli shot and wounded a man attempting to rob his Melbourne business Nov. 17.

Dripping Springs, Texas

From the Statesman of November 24, 2009

Customer fends off would-be robber

A customer wrestled a shotgun away from a man who was trying to rob a Dripping Springs store earlier this evening, according to The Hays County Sheriff’s Office. The gun went off, but no one was injured and the suspect quickly fled, the sheriff’s office said.

The incident happened about 6 p.m. at the DS Grocery at 601 U.S. 290, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

The man came into the convenience/grocery store and was wearing a white mask over his face, which officials said looked like a pillow case. He was holding a shotgun and demanded money from the clerk, the statement said.

A customer in the store grabbed the shotgun when the clerk handed the suspect the money, and the two wrestled for it before the gun went off, striking the ceiling.

The suspect dropped the gun — and the money — when he fled the store. He jumped into a dark colored Honda that another person was driving and they fled east on 290.

No injuries were reported.

Deputies are describing the suspect as an approximately 24-year-old male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, and was wearing blue jeans and a grey UT sweatshirt.

Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to please contact the Hays County Sheriff’s Office at 393-7896.

Dallas, Texas

From November, 20, 2009 Random Numbers:

I just finished speaking with the local authorities.

I was out in my front yard when a large dog, a stray in my neighborhood, walked past my house.  I didn’t think anything of the dog at the time, having seen the big fellow loping around the neighborhood since I moved in.  A while later, I took my own dog, Sandy, out to do her business.  The big stray came up, took one sniff, and then locked Sandy’s throat in a death grip.  I ran to the house and grabbed a rake and proceeded to beat that stray soundly about the head and shoulders, it did no good.  A neighbor ( the nice Latino next door) came to help with a metal pipe, but the stray just would not let go of Sandy’s throat.  I had no choice.  I went back into my house, retrieved my AMT 9mm Backup, returned to the front yard, where this altercation was going on, foind a position where the round would not over-penetrate into Sandy, and fired a single hollowpoint round into the stray’s ribcage.  I then called 911 to report the shooting.

…

Poor pooch

I have never fired a handgun at anything not made of paper in my life, but what else could I do?

East St. Louis, Illinois

From November 21, 2009 KSDK channel 5:

KSDK — St. Clair County State’s Attorney Robert Haida has charged a suspected robber for the murder of his fellow accomplice, who was shot and killed by a store clerk during an attempted robbery in East St. Louis.

Michael Hunter is charged with first-degree murder for Larando King’s death, even though Hunter did not fire a shot during the attempted robbery.  Under Illinois law, a person can be charged with murder if anyone, including an accomplice, is killed in the commission of a felony.

King was killed Thursday morning while he, Hunter and other suspects attempted to break into the BFM Market in the 1000 block of Bond Avenue around 3 a.m. A clerk was in the business at the time and shot King in the chest as King pried open the front door.

Sorrento, Florida

From the November 19, 2009 Orlando Sentinel:

SORRENTO – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the fatal shooting of a suspected burglar by a homeowner.

The man killed Thursday was identified as Brett Lee Canada, 23, of Mount Plymouth, according to sheriff’s Sgt. John Herrell. Canada’s next of kin has been identified, Herrell said.

He said the shooting occurred soon after 3:30 a.m. on property located at 25130 Spring Hill Ave. The location is south of State Road 46 in the Sorrento area.

The property owner, Shane Biel, awoke to his alarm sounding. He looked outside and spotted a silhouette figure out by his lawn equipment trailer, Herrell said. Biel had been the victim of prior lawn-equipment theft, he said. And there have been other equipment thefts in the area recently.

The suspect had not entered the enclosed equipment trailer but was inside a fenced area.

Biel told another family member to call 911 and then he went outside to confront the suspect with his handgun. Biel told authorities that Canada moved toward him in “an aggressive manner,” and that’s when he opened fire out of fear for his safety, Herrell said.

Biel’s account appears to be consistent with investigators’ findings at the scene. Herrell said the Sheriff’s Office was familiar with Canada from earlier problems. He was wearing a black “hoodie” and had gloves when he was found. And investigators found bolt cutters at the scene that did not belong to Biel.

Osceola County, Florida

From November 18, 2009 WFTV channel 9:

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Two teenage criminals might have pulled off the perfect jailbreak in Osceola County, if it wasn’t for a homeowner with a gun.

The kids successfully escaped from a juvenile detention facility on South Orange Blossom Trail near Kissimmee Wednesday afternoon and were running free, until they tried to hide in Brad Anderson’s shed.

Anderson told Eyewitness News what he did when he found the juveniles.

Brad Anderson pointed out the spot in his shed where he discovered two escapees from the Adolescent Residential Campus in Intercession City Wednesday. The juvenile facility for medium-risk males is about one mile from Anderson’s Osceola County home.

“They were trying to get me to let them go and I said, ‘No, you have to do your duty,’” he said.

He didn’t show WFTV the gun, but the .380 semi-automatic Anderson was holding may have been more persuasive than his words. Anthony Bentley, 16, was previously charged with grand theft and burglary. Chase Swanson, 15, was charged with armed robbery and burglary.

Brad Anderson walked the two teens over to a fence where he told them to stay put until he could flag down an officer. A sheriff’s deputy was there in just five minutes.“I told them life isn’t always easy you have to buckle down and earn your way through life,” Anderson said.

Bentley and Swinson escaped by grabbing another teens’ dental retainer. Deputies say they threw it over the fence and told the owner if he helped lift the fence, he’d get his retainer back. The two teens climbed under the fence, threw back the retainer and kept going for three to four hours.

LaVergne, Tennessee

From November 19, 2009 WSMV-TV channel 4:

LaVERGNE, Tenn. — A LaVergne man told police he believes two would-be robbers followed him home. He became suspicious when he saw them drive up with no headlights and one of them come toward him with a gun.

“He lifted up a firearm — it appeared to a chrome pistol of some sort — and he pointed it at me and demanded I take everything out of my pockets,” said the man, who did not want his name used.

But what the potential offender didn’t know was the victim had his own gun and fired first. He had recently purchased the gun and was planning on practice shooting earlier that day.

The two teens, 19-year-old Shane Singleton and 17-year-old Tevin Battle, were quickly arrested after neighbors called police because they heard gunshots.

“They just happened to rob the wrong guy,” said LaVergne Police Chief Ted Boyd. “These suspects are lucky that they didn’t get shot.”

Boyd said the victim had every right to do what he did.

“People have the right to defend themselves if they are in fear of bodily harm or death,” said Boyd.

Both are repeat offenders, and the 17-year-old was tried and convicted as an adult in Nashville for a similar crime.

“Both of them are on probation at this time,” said Boyd. “We know the adult’s on probation, he’s told us, for 12 years for especially aggravated robbery.”

Wilmington, Delaware

From the November 18, 2009 Delaware News-Journal:

One of two or three men trying to rob a Wilmington liquor store Tuesday night was shot and killed by a store clerk who exchanged fire with the bandits in the store, police said.

Late this afternoon police said they had identified the dead man as 20-year-old Kendel Miller of the 500 block of W. 39th Street in Wilmington.

Master Sgt. Steven Barnes said Miller, killed in the 9:30 p.m. gunfire at Favor’s Liquor Store, 1020 N. Walnut St., was able to exit the store and stagger 40 feet along a sidewalk before collapsing. Paramedics treated him, and he was rushed to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m.

A second holdup man fled on foot and police used a dog to try and track him in the area near the store along 10th and 11th streets. Barnes said there may have been a third robber.

Police said they found a .22-caliber handgun in the store dropped by one of the men attempting the robbery.

The 55-year-old clerk, who police did not identify, was interviewed at police headquarters.

Two women were in the back of the store at the time of the robbery, but Barnes said they were not directly involved. They also were interviewed at police headquarters.

Police said the men wearing masks entered the store brandishing handguns and ordered the clerk to hand over money from the register. They then rounded the counter in an attempt to get at the register and grab the cash themselves.

But the clerk also had a gun and opened fire, striking one of the masked men and forcing both to flee. Police do not know if the other gunman was hit during the exchange and were checking to see if any other gunshot victims show up at local hospitals.

Golden, Colorado

From the November 16, 2009 Denver Post:

A homeowner in Golden held a burglary suspect in stolen boxer shorts at gunpoint last week, police said today.

The homeowner, who was not named by police, said he came home at 5 p.m. on Nov. 9 and found Timothy P. Gonzales, 24, of Golden in his home wearing only the homeowner’s underwear.

The homeowner said when he arrived at his house in the 1200 block of Mesa Court he found a white Lexus parked in his garage and items in his home that were out of place.

He fetched his pistol from a bedroom and called out, police said. Gonzales answered, he told police. The man confronted Gonzales and ordered him to leave the house.

Gonzales allegedly argued that the pistol was not real and “moved aggressively” toward the homeowner, who fired a warning shot, police said. When police arrived the homeowner was still holding Gonzales at gunpoint.

Police said investigators think Gonzales had been in the home most of the day. He showered, did laundry and put food he bought in the refrigerator, police said in a statement.

The home is for sale, and Gonzales pretended to be the home owner when two real estate agents brought by clients who wanted to look at the home, police said.

Police also said they found materials used to make methamphetamine on a work bench in the garage.

Gonzales remains in the Jefferson County Detention Center under $50,000 bond. The charges against him include burglary, menacing, possession of burglary tools, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

Public records show Gonzales has been arrested several times before on drug, burglary, domestic violence and other charges.

Bessemer, Alabama

From the November 10, 2009 Birmingham, Alabama News:

A man armed with a shotgun was himself shot and killed today as he attempted to rob a bait shop, according to Bessemer police.

The incident happened about 4:15 p.m. at The Bait Shop at 729 9th St. N. in Bessemer, said Capt. Mike Roper. When the man attempted to rob the store, the owner shot and killed him, Roper said.

Talahassee, Florida

From November 11, 2009 WCTV:

At around 6:45 on Tuesday evening, two men entered a home on Hayward Drive, and one escaped while the other was shot dead.

We visited the house and the homeowners said they were OK, but they had no interest in talking to us. They then kept urging us to go away.

And people living nearby say this neighborhood is no stranger to crime.
On Tuesday night, Hayward Drive was locked down and lit up with the blinding lights of police cars.
Witness Marc Rudner says, “There were about 11 to 12 cops surrounding the whole street.”

And they were investigating a house at the corner of Cactus Street and Hayward Drive.

Officers say at around 6:45, two men attempted to rob this home, but someone inside shot one of the suspects, 31-year-old Robert Buck.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement listed Buck as a sexual predator, and the Department of Corrections says Buck just served around 10 years in prison for sexual battery and home invasion robbery.

But this robbery led to his death.

Albany, Georgia

From November 16, 2009 WALB-TV channel 10:

Police say around 11:30 p.m. two armed robbers held up three men and woman as they got out of a car. But it wasn’t just the robbers who were armed, so was one of the victims.

“We do know that the victims were robbed at gunpoint and at some point there was gunfire exchanged,” said Phyllis Banks-Whitley, Albany Police media manager.

A shootout began when one of the three male robbery victims pulled his own gun and began firing at the suspects. One of the armed robbers took off running while the other returned fire. But it was the suspect who found himself on the receiving end of a bullet. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

Despite a barrage a of gunfire, none of the victims were struck. They were taken in for questioning at the Law Enforcement Center downtown.

“These people were coming home when they were approached by these suspects who were armed and demanded money. They were able to get a couple of items from them,” said Banks-Whitley.

Westland, Michigan

From the November 8, 2009 Michigan Observer & Eccentric:

No charges will be filed against a Westland woman over the fatal shooting of her husband Monday evening, authorities said.

Jared Callender, 23, was shot three times in the bedroom of the home he shared with his 47-year-old wife, Westland police Sgt. Michael Harhold said.

“They had a rocky relationship. There had been prior domestic problems and calls to the police department,” Harhold said.

The couple married in February 2008. Callender relocated to Michigan from Florida in December 2007, Harhold said.

The couple was arguing and Callender had threatened his wife during the previous two days, Harhold said, but police weren’t called.

The wife operates a hair salon and tattoo parlor from a building she owns in Detroit. The man, who was unemployed, reportedly again threatened his wife with violence when they returned to the Westland residence from the business.

“She was in the living room when he came in and began removing clothing to take off his belt. He put the belt around her neck and was choking her,” Harhold said.

…

“He (Callender) was then pushing her up the stairs and into the bedroom. She said he got a gun which was stored in the bedroom and pointed it at her saying he was going to kill her,” Harhold said. “She was in fear for her life.”

The woman was wearing a fanny pack around her waist in which she had a .38-caliber revolver — something she carried for protection at her business, Harhold said.

“She fired once striking him in the chest. When he raised his gun again, she fired twice more hitting him in the head,” Harhold said. “She had some injuries — supportive (of her account) injuries.”

Officers were able to get a statement from one of the children who witnessed the struggle on the stairs, he said. The former husband had arrived and was ringing the door bell when the shots were fired, Harhold said.