Posted on 05/27/2005 7:17:31 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
A clerk at Mike's Liquor on Kemp Boulevard shot a fleeing robber in the leg after chasing him into the street and being threatened with a stolen liquor bottle, Wichita Falls police said.
The suspect, with a bullet lodged above his knee, managed to keep running, dodge another bullet and escape the clerk, darting into a nearby neighborhood, Sgt. Van Dotson said. The wounded suspect was found at a home on Buchanan Street and arrested.
The incident started some time after 6:30 p.m., witnesses said. A man entered Mike's Liquor, picked up a bottle and ran out without paying, police said.
The clerk chased him into the middle of Buchanan wielding a .38-caliber revolver. Witnesses heard the clerk yelling at the suspect, telling him to put the bottle down or he'd shoot if he had to.
The suspect raised the bottle over his head in a threatening manner, several witnesses told police.
"He (the clerk) shot him once in the back of leg," Dotson said. "The bullet almost came out the front of the knee."
The suspect put the bottle down but kept running.
"He never hit the ground and just grabbed his leg," said Donald Brownlee, one of three employees at the Kemp Taco Mayo who watched the chase and shooting from the restaurant's windows. "That's all adrenaline there. I can't believe he kept running."
The clerk shot one more time but missed as the suspect ran through the Taco Mayo parking lot. Brownlee said he heard the bullet ricochet off a nearby building.
The suspect ran into the nearby neighborhood. Dotson said he walked up to a resident's house asking for medical attention. He said the residents there helped him and called an ambulance. He was transported to United Regional Health Care System's 11th Street campus for non-life- threatening injures.
"He must've really wanted that liquor," said Adam Sivils, another employee at the Taco Mayo. "I've never seen anything like that."
The suspect faces possible robbery charges, Dotson said. The clerk was not arrested, but his actions could be investigated by the district attorney's office.
In Texas you can shoot someone through your front door if you feel threatened. You can shoot someone that you think is stealing your NEIGHBOR'S property.
Don't mess with Texa(n)s.
Here is a link to Texas' penal code about this.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/cqcgi?CQ_SESSION_KEY=WZZQEDMGVUCW&CQ_QUERY_HANDLE=124126&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=16&CQ_TLO_DOC_TEXT=YES
My experience is that Texas grand juries can be very understanding.
I wondered about that. I know TX has outstanding gun rights laws, but this is beyond what seemed legal. IF this kind of shooting is OK, then look for lots more shootouts, in the name of robbery. Whether it is on not. All people need to do is shoot someone and say they were trying to rob them. Drug deals gone bad, etc.
No need to wonder about it. Read the actual statute in Chapter 9 of the Penal Code, linked in a post up a couple. Read especially sections 9.42 and 9.43. Deadly force is authorized even to protect a third person's property. No threat is necessary or even mentioned.
We don't cotton to thieves 'round these parts.
How do you figure? Looks like he is pretty well covered by sec. 9.42 and 9.43 of the Penal Code. Did you ever read it?
Here in Lampasas County he wouldn't be billed. More likely the Grand Jury would buy him a beer.
Not if I'm on the jury.
There's that new Hornady TAP stuff. Think I will give it a shot. Pun intended.
What are the chances he grabbed a bottle of cheap-o vodka in a plastic container? LOL!
Lots of complaints about the ammo. Doesn't matter much with a knee hit. Most .38 should've blown right through the leg, but you can never know for sure.
Maybe he used wadcutters or something, but who knows.. Not enough info here.
I think the clerk will get nailed, especially since the suspect was fleeing and was no longer a danger to the clerk at that moment in time, maybe in Tx will be different.
The fact that he did the robbery and put someone in harm should be enough.
It is different in Texas. He can chase the bad guy as long as he keeps him in sight.
Most states, the ones that let citizens have guns, as soon as the perp turns to leave you can't do anything more.
That strategy would be a very risky one to try to carry out. It would be best if the shooter had corroborating eyewitness testimony to the shooting from an individual or individuals not associated with him.
See post #25. It seems as though it's perfectly legal in Texas. LOL
Depends on a lot o things. I hold a Texas CCL, and there are a lot of variables. What the guy really has to worry about it is what was up range when he fired at the guy.
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