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STORE OWNER INCIDENT


Thanks to Tom Givens and James Yeager for providing the details of this incident.  Tom 
spoke to the sheriff in charge of the investigation to get the more detailed info.

On October 26, 2001, the owner of a small grocery in Moon Lake (south of Memphis) was 
involved in a shooting as he was closing up shop to go home.  As he was coming out of
the business, he was accosted by an armed man.  He drew his gun, a 5-shot .38 revolver,
and fired a shot, hitting the robber.  He turned to run to his house (not too far away) 
and was confronted by another robber, who was standing behind a drink machine.  He fired 
at this robber also, and hit him.  He stated at first, he thought it was the same person
he had just shot, but found out later it was a second robber.  

The store owner ran to his house, even though he had been shot in the arm and chest, and 
called the sheriff's department.  Luckily, a patrol car was just down the street and got
the call quickly enough to be there in less than a minute.  The deputy saw the getaway car 
driving off and called in a description of the vehicle, and the vehicle was stopped down 
the road by a different deputy.

In the getaway vehicle, the second deputy found one of the two robbers who had been shot,
and two other suspects.  The first robber who had been shot lay dead on the scene.

Here are a few things we can learn from this incident:

 1.  Always scan your surroundings, especially if you've already engaged someone.  This
     store owner ran into a second robber a few seconds after engaging the first. 
 
 2.  Multiple assailants are fairly common in robberies.  Never assume you're done just 
     because you shot someone.  Statistically, you have about a 50/50 chance of being 
     involved with more than one attacker.  For God's sake, don't carry a one shot 
     derringer.  I know several people who do this, with the logic "it's better than 
     nothing."  The good guy in this story had to actually shoot two different people.

 3.  The BG's may or may not be impressed by the fact that you have a gun, or even that 
     you have already shot someone.  The GG in the story shot one person, yet another  
     person stepped out and attacked him too.  If you do face multiple assailants, you 
     may actually have to shoot all of them.  You'd better have enough ammo.

 4.  If you carry a revolver, you are only going to have 5 or 6 shots.  In reality, most
     people that carry revolvers don't carry speedloaders.

 5.  You don't generally get to choose when/where/how you're going to be involved in an 
     incident, and you don't get to choose how many attackers you will be up against.
   
 6.  Never make a statement at the scene.  The store owner stated he thought the second 
     person he shot was the first one who had just gotten back up.  He did not realize
     it was a different person until later.  If you answer questions at the scene, no 
     matter what you say, you have no way to know for sure if you're right.

 7.  In general, pistols are not very powerful, and small pistols (especially with short 
     barrels) are particularly underpowered.  This store owner was shot in the chest, the 
     bullet penetrated his lung, and lodged under his shoulder blade.  It should be noted, 
     he ran to his house and called the sheriff's department.  He did go to the hospital, 
     however he was back at work two days later.  The robbers in this incident had a .22 
     and a .32 caliber pistol and the store owner had a .38 snubnose.
 
 8.  One shot may not be enough.  Three people were shot in this incident, but the bullet
     itself only stopped one of them (the robber that was stopped instantly was hit in the 
     head).  The owner was able to run to his house, and the other robber who was shot was 
     able to get in a car and was still conscious when the car was pulled over.
 
 9.  People think small pistols are great for concealment because they can fit in your 
     pocket.  Considering this incident could have involved as many as four people, can
     you imagine facing four assailants with a five shot snubnose revolver?  Besides that, 
     it's absolutely untrue that you can't conceal a full size weapon.  People that say you
     can't conceal a full size weapon either don't know what they're talking about, or they
     are just simply unwilling to change their wardrobe a little.  This guy owns his own 
     business, so...what...was he trying to hide a gun from himself?

10.  Most of the time, the police cannot protect you.  In this incident, the sheriff's deputy
     was just down the street, but as far as actual protection goes, he may as well have been 
     on the moon.  It makes absolutely no difference whatsoever how quickly an officer can 
     arrive after an incident is over.  The fact is, he still arrives afterwards.  You are 
     responsible for your own safety, and no one else.  No one else is going to be there.



Robert V. Robinson
My Experience and Training: