CCW stops robbery...lucky!

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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

WEAPONS OF CHOICE Shopper pulls gun, stops robbery cold Held suspect at grocery store until police officers arrived

A grocery store customer in Indianapolis is being credited with halting an armed robbery by pulling his own weapon and pointing it at the assailant until police arrived.

According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, Charlie Merrell, 51, was in a checkout line at a grocery store called Bucks IGA on the city's south side when a "masked man jumped a nearby counter and held a gun on a store employee."

The police report cited by the newspaper said the incident happened at

5:17 in the afternoon Monday as Merrell was doing some year-end shopping.

"While the suspect was demanding cash from the workers," according to the police report, "Merrell pulled his own handgun, pointed it at the robber and ordered him to put down his weapon."

The newspaper noted that Officer Jason Bockting, in his documentation of the incident, said when the suspect seemed to hesitate, "Merrell racked the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber."

At that point, the report said, "the suspect placed his gun and a bag of cash on the counter, dropping some of the money . the suspect removed his mask and lay on the floor."

Merrill, meanwhile, held the suspect at gunpoint until officers arrived and took him away in handcuffs.

Police reported Merrell had a valid permit to carry the handgun, and they recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun and $779 cash from the suspect.

Police records show Dwain Smith, 19, was being held in the Marion County Jail on a bond of $30,000 on initial charges of robbery, criminal confinement, pointing a firearm, battery and carrying a handgun without a license.

------------------------------------------------- Outstanding that the robbery was stopped by a CCW person.

That person needs a bit of instructions on using a weapon for such things.

What was he doing pointing an unloaded weapon at the robber?

Lesson#1 - never point a gun at someone unless you plan to use it.

My first thought when reading this was that everyone there was lucky. Had the robber's gun been loaded I can see an entirely different ending.

Harry K

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K
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I don't see anything in the article that indicates that his weapon was unloaded. Many times I will rack just to make sure. So, perhaps he ejected one while injecting another. Maybe he racked for effect. Lots of ifs and maybes here. Anyhow, all's well that ends well.

Reply to
JC

re: Lesson#1 - never point a gun at someone unless you plan to use it.

I guess that goes for the robber also.

What was he doing pointing an unloaded gun at the employee?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

The robber's weapon was unloaded.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

A couple of my cops friends said there is sorta an urban legend amongst crooks that if the gun isn't loaded then they think they can't be charged with armed robbery and they will avoid the extra jail time. Boy are they mistaken

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

That's irrelevant.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Pay attention now, old son(g). From the post it appeared as though the person was confused who had the loaded and/or unloaded gun. I was merely attempting to allay that confusion. Which made the comment overwhelmingly relevant in the conversation (not to mention damn pithy, too).

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Harry K wrote in news:8969eafc-3fa4-4a92-bb75- snipped-for-privacy@l6g2000prm.googlegroups.com:

YIKES!

Insanity.He probably realized it after he drew....

I recall reading about a customer in a similar situation who drew his concealed handgun and yelled "halt" to stop a robber,and the robber spun and shot him dead.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

It is still armed robbery even if the gun is a toy. Or if the robber just has his finger under a jacket. If the employee thinks its a gun, it is armed robbery.

Reply to
Robert Allison

Kurt Ullman wrote in news:kurtullman- snipped-for-privacy@70-3-168-216.area.spcsdns.net:

point an "unloaded" or toy gun at a police officer,and they WILL shoot you without question. Civilians who have shot crooks armed with "unloaded" or toy guns have had their shoots ruled "OK". You have no way of knowing that the gun is really unloaded,and must treat it as a real threat. Same for realistic toy guns.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Kurt Ullman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@70-3-168-216.area.spcsdns.net:

Quote; The newspaper noted that Officer Jason Bockting, in his documentation of the incident, said when the suspect seemed to hesitate, "Merrell racked the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber."

endquote

"to load a round in the chamber";not "load another round". Sounds empty to me.

Merrell could easily have been shot while racking the slide. that is an "effect"....not a good one,though.

I would have just shot the robber;2 rounds to the center of body.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Darwin Award.

A gun alone doesn't guarantee tactical superiority of a situation.

To quote Kenny Rogers

"You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, Know when to walk away, and know when to run

Now evry gambler knows that the secret to survivin Is knowin what to throw away and knowin what to keep. cause evry hands a winner and evry hands a loser, And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep"

a civilian CCW holder pulling a gun on a robbery, that doesn't involve them directly - is rolling the dice - (tactically speaking).

may turn out fine, may not.

and what the hell does all this have to do with home repair ???????

Reply to
TomCat

re: what the hell does all this have to do with home repair?

The robber was trying to steal money so he could hire a contractor to fix his house. D*mn, those guys charge a lot these days!

Reply to
DerbyDad03

| >>

| >> I don't see anything in the article that indicates that his weapon | >> was unloaded. Many times I will rack just to make sure. So, perhaps | >> he ejected one while injecting another. Maybe he racked for effect. | >> Lots of ifs and maybes here. Anyhow, all's well that ends well. | >

| > The robber's weapon was unloaded. | | Quote; | The newspaper noted that Officer Jason Bockting, in his documentation | of | the incident, said when the suspect seemed to hesitate, "Merrell | racked | the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber." | | endquote | | "to load a round in the chamber";not "load another round". | Sounds empty to me. | | Merrell could easily have been shot while racking the slide. | that is an "effect"....not a good one,though. | | I would have just shot the robber;2 rounds to the center of body.

Yeah, well I've shot someone before. How many have you shot?

Reply to
JC

| > > This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which | > > follows. | > > To view this item online, visit | > >

formatting link
| > >

| > > Wednesday, January 2, 2008 | > >

| > >

| > > WEAPONS OF CHOICE | > > Shopper pulls gun, stops robbery cold | > > Held suspect at grocery store until police officers arrived | > >

| > > A grocery store customer in Indianapolis is being credited with | > > halting | > > an armed robbery by pulling his own weapon and pointing it at the | > > assailant until police arrived. | > >

| > > According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, Charlie Merrell, 51, | > > was | > > in a checkout line at a grocery store called Bucks IGA on the city's | > > south side when a "masked man jumped a nearby counter and held a gun | > > on | > > a store employee." | > >

| > > The police report cited by the newspaper said the incident happened | > > at | > > 5:17 in the afternoon Monday as Merrell was doing some year-end | > > shopping. | > >

| > > "While the suspect was demanding cash from the workers," according to | > > the police report, "Merrell pulled his own handgun, pointed it at the | > > robber and ordered him to put down his weapon." | > >

| > > The newspaper noted that Officer Jason Bockting, in his documentation | > > of | > > the incident, said when the suspect seemed to hesitate, "Merrell | > > racked | > > the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber." | >

| > YIKES! | > >

| > >

| > > At that point, the report said, "the suspect placed his gun and a bag | > > of | > > cash on the counter, dropping some of the money . the suspect removed | > > his mask and lay on the floor." | > >

| > >

| > > Merrill, meanwhile, held the suspect at gunpoint until officers | > > arrived | > > and took him away in handcuffs. | > >

| > > Police reported Merrell had a valid permit to carry the handgun, and | > > they recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun and $779 cash from | > > the | > > suspect. | > >

| > > Police records show Dwain Smith, 19, was being held in the Marion | > > County | > > Jail on a bond of $30,000 on initial charges of robbery, criminal | > > confinement, pointing a firearm, battery and carrying a handgun | > > without | > > a license. | > >

| > > ------------------------------------------------- | > > Outstanding that the robbery was stopped by a CCW person. | > >

| > > That person needs a bit of instructions on using a weapon for such | > > things. | > >

| > > What was he doing pointing an unloaded weapon at the robber? | >

| > Insanity.He probably realized it after he drew.... | > >

| > > Lesson#1 - never point a gun at someone unless you plan to use it. | > >

| > > My first thought when reading this was that everyone there was lucky. | > > Had the robber's gun been loaded I can see an entirely different | > > ending. | > >

| > > Harry K | > >

| > > Harry K | > >

| >

| > I recall reading about a customer in a similar situation who drew his | > concealed handgun and yelled "halt" to stop a robber,and the robber spun | > and shot him dead. | | | Darwin Award. | | A gun alone doesn't guarantee tactical superiority of a situation. | | To quote Kenny Rogers | | "You gotta know when to hold em, | know when to fold em, | Know when to walk away, | and know when to run | | Now evry gambler knows that the secret to survivin | Is knowin what to throw away and knowin what to keep. | cause evry hands a winner and evry hands a loser, | And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep" | | a civilian CCW holder pulling a gun on a robbery, | that doesn't involve them directly - is rolling the | dice - (tactically speaking). | | may turn out fine, may not. | | and what the hell does all this have to do with | home repair ???????

It just more ideas for when you get a bad repairman.

Reply to
JC

re: what the hell does all this have to do with home repair?

I put it right up there with all the "Cheap Brand Jewelry" crap on here.

Reply to
JC

I never carry with a live round in the chamber. It's a safety thing. If I have to deploy, I would be racking and removing the safety.

Reply to
Dave Bugg

It depends on what you carry. I have a Kel-Tec P11 in 9mm that has no safety at all and I carry it with one round up the snout. The P11 has about a 10 pound trigger and there's no way you'll ever accidentally pop off a round, even with adrenalin coursing through your system. It will take an active decision to shoot. And even if the pistol were to jam (it doesn't) I know I'd get at least the first round off without incident. And then I have 10 more rounds if I need them....

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

If you'd called a plumber or electrician to your house recently, you'd understand that robbery is very much on topic around here!

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

Otheres may prefer differently, but I carry sans chambered round with any handgun I use. That's what I prefer. That's also the way I practice when I shoot, so it has become second nature and doesn't slow me down in any real world sense.

Reply to
Dave Bugg

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