Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A store owner shot and killed a would-be robber Tuesday night in his store in Prince George's county, county police said.

The store owner took away the robber's gun and shot him with it in the store in the Fort Washington area, said Officer Larry Johnson, a police spokesman.

Two robbers, at least one of them armed, entered the Food Zone store in the 12500 block of Livingston Road about 9:25 p.m., Johnson said. The owner, who was not identified, managed to get the gun from the armed man and fired, Johnson said.

Johnson said that the owner is "definitely a hero" and that he performed a "very courageous act."

Police did not release the name of the slain suspect.

The second robber apparently fled and was still at large late Tuesday night, police said.

The store, a free-standing structure with a peaked roof, is surrounded by a parking area at Livingston and Old Fort roads. The intersection is about eight miles south of the Capital Beltway and about two or three miles east of the Potomac River.

At least one customer was in the store when the robbers entered, about a half-hour before closing time, police said.

Late into the night, police cars surrounded the intersection as investigators continued their work.

A neon sign in front of the store blinked the word: OPEN. Signs there advertise groceries and money orders.
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So, let me get this straight, to be a hero in MD, your have to take the firearm away from the criminal, and then shoot him with it, as having your own already, let alone locked and loaded, would be too easy and anyone could readily get "hero" status...

I can only read this and ask "why?..as let us, just for a moment, digest the casually written statement of " took away the robber's gun and shot him with it ..."

who here would like to step up and try thier hand at taking away the robbers gun? ...obviously it was loaded and ready to fire...obviously it was large enough calibre to drop the one man and make the other one flee for his selfish, ever loving life... I can only come up with various senarios, all of which are heart pounding at the very best... , none of which are the reality, and all include the extreme situation of having a
a loaded firearm in your face...

Obviously the "robber" didn't seem to understand the laws of MD...

and the other obvious fact of how much different it could have been if he had walked in with a blade...

and the final obvious fact of it wouldn't have mattered at all what he walked through the door with if the owner had already been locked and loaded, carrying on his person...

Glad I now live in VA, but was born and raised in MD. First off lets clarify some things. MD is not like NY and NJ. You do not need a permit to buy or own guns. In MD you may not be able to get a CHP, unless some desk jockey in MSP headquarters says you need it but you can have a loaded gun in your home or place of business for protection. Had this business owner had his own gun he still would have been justified.

I don't know all the circumstances but I might have tried to take the gun if I thought I had no other choice and was going to be shot either way. Glad things worked out like they did and the business owner saved state the cost of feeding the scum bag.

From what I heard on the lovely fox news the store had been robbed 4 times previously and they had finally just gotten the bullet resistant safety glass installed. Supposedly the BG with the firearm stuck it through the little exchange slot at which point the owner disarmed him via some unknown method(probably just the good ole side step, grab the wrist/firearm, and pull to the side) and then proceed the shoot the other way through the exchange slot hitting the formerly armed perp. Heard that at around 5am so things m,ay have changed by now on the story and what not.

Well good for him (store owner). It's good to see that despite the restrictive laws in MD. there are still those with the presence of mind and guts to confront criminals and giv-'em what fer... LOL.
I'll let the rest of you make of this what you will.
As for me, I say 1 less criminal on the streets is a good thing. Go store owner guy!!!

So now, does the store owner get to keep the gun? Possession is 9/10 of the law.

fireman836 wrote:You do not need a permit to buy or own guns. In MD you may not be able to get a CHP, unless some desk jockey in MSP headquarters says you need it but you can have a loaded gun in your home or place of business for protection. Had this business owner had his own gun he still would have been justified.

Yup. Been there done that. Its why I now live in VA.

If the GG was behind bullet proof glass, and had disarmed the BG, wouldn't the situation have been defused? Wouldn't some level of effort be necessary to shoot the BG from behind this glass which might be construed as excessive or unwarranted?

I fully understand the idea of defending oneself from harm, but I recall reading that you didn't have the right to shoot a BG if the threat has been removed.

Just playing devil's advocate. One of the things I worry about when I think about situations where I might need to use deadly force is how the results will look to a jury or an overzealous prosecutor (especially if their only concern is a conviction).

"I shot in self-defense," begins with "I shot." You're admitting to killing someone and you just never know how the police, prosecutor, jury, judge will view the evidence.

... my guess (as I was not present) is that this was a very-much split second reaction/deployment of the action. While the "threat" was neutralized, it was still present (there were two BG's at the incident). Drawing of the firearm, "annoucing" intent to rob the GG, was IMHO "intent" defined necessary to justify use of deadly force.

I understand you question and why you posted it - just believe that this was a split-split-split second reaction to the gun in face event. Now is the store owner "emptied" the mag.. may be different story... but he didn't he got one shot off - and it was all that was necessary (good and responsible ammo decision in these scarse ammo times).