Police: Jewelry store robbers threaten to kill woman, 77(TX)

click2houston.com ^ | 10 October, 2012 | NA

[marktwain]

CONROE, Texas -

A jewelry store owner fired shots at three people who tried to rob him and threatened to kill his mother on Wednesday.

Conroe police said two men and a woman walked into Wilkins Jewelry, 1712 N. Frazier St., about 10:30 a.m. One of the men asked Mitch Wilkins about getting a ring cleaned while the other man and the woman asked Wilkins' 77-year-old mother for help picking something out.

Detectives said the men pulled out guns. Wilkins said he was pistol-whipped.

"He vaulted over this case, and when I turned around he had a pistol in my face," Wilkins said. "He was telling me, 'Don't move. Don't move.'"

The attackers put a gun to Wilkins' mother's head, officials said.

"There was a gun to my face," said Wilkins' mother, Shirley. "(The man was) saying, 'I'll shoot! I'll shoot!' My hands were being held."

Wilkins and his mother both fought back.

"We fell to the ground and he tried to shoot me," Wilkins said.

"I wrestled with her and and I think I broke her finger," Shirley said.

Wilkins said he wrestled the gun away from one of the men. When it fell to his ground, his mother grabbed the gun, handed it to him and he opened fire.

The store owner suffered minor injuries during the fight, but it appeared that no one was wounded by gunfire.

[marktwain]

I often read of cases where the victim is able to take a gun from the criminal, but seldom read of cases where a criminal takes a gun from a potential victim.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

There is a good, logical reason for that.

The attention of the armed robber is all over the place. They have to watch their victims, watch for police and onlookers, watch for cameras often enough, etc. Their intent is to get stuff and escape, he wants to temporarily control, usually not to kill.

This is why there is a huge advantage to a concealed armed defender. His focus is narrow, just the robber and his weapon, and for the defender to recover his weapon and shoot the attacker. He doesn’t have to fret about police, anyone behind him, onlookers, taking stuff, or escaping. He does not want or need to dominate or control the situation, just to put rounds through the robber without getting shot himself.

This is why it is much easier for the unarmed defender to snatch the robber’s gun. For most robbers, if their victim pulls a gun, it adds so many variables that they prefer to flee.

Yet in that situation, the defender still has advantages, because he knows “the terrain”, and still has his limited focus. The robber is messed up. His robbery is a failure and he will probably not get what he wanted to steal, his life is at risk, he has to assume cops are on the way, and even if he shoots the defender or anyone else, he could face a murder rap, not just armed robbery.

So fleeing is a very good option.