Posted on 10/19/2011 9:26:13 AM PDT by DCBryan1
EAST NAPLES — A clerk at a landmark East Naples corner store shot and killed a man Tuesday as he attempted to rob the family-run shop and flee with her 1-year-old daughter.
The man, whose name was not released, demanded money from Elizabeth Easterly, a clerk at Del’s 24 Hour Food Store, and then grabbed a stroller that held Easterly’s baby, said Del Ackerman, the store’s owner and Easterly’s grandfather.
Easterly, 22, was alone during a shift change, running the shop with her 1- and 2-year-old daughters there, Ackerman said.
“I almost lost my two babies,” Ackerman said of his great-granddaughters.
The children were unharmed. However, a bloodied stroller remained inside the front door for hours as investigators gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses at the scene.
Around 3 p.m. a man entered the store, 2802 Thomasson Dr., “acting erratically,” Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jamie Mosbach said.
As the man made for the front door with the child, Easterly did just as she had been taught — she drew a gun and aimed for the would-be robber’s knee, Ackerman said.
Bleeding, the man was then tackled outside the front door by a store employee who was about to start his shift and was walking toward the store when the shooting happened. A pool of blood and a bloodied pair of men’s athletic shoes marked where the man was held down until deputies arrived at the scene.
The man was transported to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital. He died from his injuries.
Deputies diverted traffic at the intersection of Thomasson and Bayshore drives for two hours following the shooting. Easterly could be seen inside the store as a swarm of patrol cars and investigators blocked off the scene. Both her husband and Ackermen had left the store less than half an hour before the attempted robbery.
Across the street, Nik Merlos and Gloria Angeles huddled under a bus awning with their 14-month-old daughter as deputies took down crime scene tape. Angeles had made a quick trip to Del’s around 2 p.m.
“I knew there were creepy people around, but not that bad,” said Merlos, who has lived in the Bayshore area for seven years.
In September 2009, three masked men pistol whipped a clerk at Del’s, robbed her at gunpoint, and then stole her car. It was a blemish in nearly half a century of serving the community that didn’t stop Ackerman from opening the doors again.
“They’ve tried to clean (the neighborhood) up a lot,” said Shannon Marcum, who lives two blocks from Del’s and grew up in the neighborhood. “They’ve succeeded somewhat.”
Three hours after the shooting, Ackerman questioned whether he would bounce back. Though his granddaughter and great-grandchildren were unharmed, the threat frazzled him.
“Under these circumstances? I would consider (closing),” he said. “I’d rather have life than money.”
Known as a neighborhood stalwart, he has kept the shop open 24 hours a day for 47 years, through hurricanes and families tragedies.
But with a dozen employees working to keep the store open round the clock, too many people would be affected by shutting the doors, he decided.
“
As hard as we’ve worked in this town ... are we going to let one person of any kind knock my family and my babies out?” Ackerman said. “No way.”
The Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation. It is unclear if Easterly could face criminal charges in the shooting.
Grand Pa said she was taught to aim for the knee, maybe she's a lousy shot and put 2 in his chest.
Not possible with Florida's Castle Doctrine. That said, shooting for the knee is ridiculous.
Lots of versions of Albert’s death...i saw the tree where he sat leaning after getting woozy from wound bloodloss
Story goes that he had his escort’s physician tending to enlisted man’s wound rather than his
No doubt to me he woulda known to drive Buell into the TN river that night unlike Beauregard who let Grant disembark
Pivotal set of happenings for CSA in the west
ASJ was notable as highest rank killed whole war and his California-Richmond trek to join CSA in 1861
But, you can bet your -- whatever -- that they will hype this event as a negative statistic on "Gun Violence"...
Yep....obvious cracker....no question
Works at Sun Tan City I presume and hair style ala Big Momma
Yep....obvious cracker....no question
Works at Sun Tan City I presume and hair style ala Big Momma
Thanks for the history. He was lost too soon, that’s for sure.
No doubt she will be prosecuted and sent to prison.
Dumba$$ probably died of shock ... shock of a sure victim shooting his sorry butt!
Knee? KNEE!
What kind of fool trains someone to shoot for the knee?
Center mass until the threat is removed. Anything less can be viewed as evidence that you did not consider yourself or others to be in mortal danger.
“Good advice, but I would add that it is ~really~ hard to do”
Excellent point, I totally agree and cannot emphasise enough to anybody caught up with the law, guilty or innocent, -frequently cops don’t actually care so long as they get a conviction- DO NOT TALK to the police, they are not your friends in the situation.
This is not an anti-police rant, it’s sensible advice, don’t talk, don’t say anything, you have the right to remain silent, use that right. Your lawyer is paid to talk for you and can do a better job than you.
Of course this is not easy, it’s human nature for all of us to want to reply to someone who is asking us questions but do not say anything, nothing.
I recall when I got in a spot of bother with the police over a dispute with someone else. I felt, still feel, that of course I was entirely in the right and I wanted to tell nice, friendly Mr Policeman that, but given that the other party also felt he was in the right and the cop didn’t know either of us from Adam and just wanted to get the case closed my lawyer told me to shut up.
In the course of the examination, the nice policeman asked me loads of questions, he seemed so reasonable and polite that of course I wanted to let him hear my side of the story. My lawyer glared at me like thunder every time I looked like I was going to say something and I would simply look down and study my finger nails.
I won my case, my opponent’s lawyer must have been a bit softer because his client told everything he knew about the incident, every detail, no doubt it all sounded perfectly reasonable to him and he was sure the cop would agree.
The cop didn’t agree.
DO NOT TALK, SAY NOTHING!
There is an artery on the back of the knee. If the Police charge her, it will be a miscarriage of justice.
His opponent was declared the winner and was named the Commanding General of the Army, but President Sam Houston had the final word and named Johnston the Secretary of War, so he was his antagonist's boss.
Unfortunately, the nerve damage to his leg is suspected of being his ultimate killer, as he apparently didn't feel the hit to his leg.
His surgeon, who had been sent to assist with some Federal casualties, knew of the danger of bleeding to death from wounds to the limbs, so he made Johnston carry a tourniquet in his pocket. Unfortunately the other officers (who included the exiled Governor of Tennessee) did not know of this. He ended up bleeding to death with a tourniquet in his pocket.
There is an interesting what-if short story in the collection Dixie Victorious where Johnston survives his wound and spends the next year recuperating at President Davis's plantation. When Grant starts crossing the Mississippi to encircle Vicksburg, Johnston rushes to the scene, takes command of the Confederate forces, and hits the Union corps while their reinforcements were still on the other side of the river.
Comments:
Maybe Easterly, while aiming at the knee, actually shot the perp in the ass, thus killing his brain.
Ackerman - perhaps a conservative shooting Jew? My kind of Landsman.
Protecting grandchildren. You bet. We old grandpas will take out anyone threatening our grandchildren. My son, a cop, will take out whoever is left. No liberal wimps here.
Let’s see if Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Putz yells about perp rights.
THanks for filling in the history.
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