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.
The irony....
....is ironic.
From the crime scene:
Photo by LEXEY SWALL // Buy this photo
Lexey Swall/Staff Collier County Crime Scene Investigators collect evidence at the scene of a shooting Tuesday afternoon at Del's 24 Hour Food Store on Thomasson Drive in East Naples.
Died from a knee injury ? Maybe he just realised he would never get a basketball contract, and just died from heartbreak ?
All’s well that ends well.
That said, why was she taught to aim for the knee? And where did she actually hit him to kill him?
Everyone knows you never go near the bear cubs.
Some scumbag, anti-gun prosecutor would have thrown the clerk into the clink for an unjustified shooting, given the spurious arguement that if her life was TRUELY threatened, then she would have shot him in the chest/head, not to maim "the poor, misunderstood, getting his life on the right track, off his medications, poor, picked on, minority, criminal, who was a good boy!"
Anyways, bonus points for a chick hitting the femoral artery and letting the perp bleed out OUTSIDE of the restaurant. I hope his last 2-3 minutes of conciousness while in excruciating pain, that he found Jesus and asked for forgiveness.
Bonus BONUS points for saving the community from losing more taxpayer money.
whoever “taught” her to shoot for the knee ...should be shot in the knee.
I know there is a major blood vessel in the upper thigh area but not the knee. I’m sort of wondering how one dies from a knee shot?!
> Died from a knee injury ?
Probably a severed femoral artery. Only takes a few minutes to bleed out.
Too bad they didn’t apply a tourniquet. He might have survived and only lost the lower leg.
For those who say “A shot in the knee is ridiculous, you’ll never stop him and only make the attacker mad. Only in the movies!”.......;)
I suspect that this had something to do with it:
the man was then tackled outside the front door by a store employee
They should have "tackled" the Muslim on the Amarillo plane like this one was "tackled".
It doesn’t say where she actually hit the perp. Maybe in the heart. Perhaps she was taught to aim there by someone who was familiar with her shooting.
Worst advice ever.
A blood clot (timy bone fragment from bullet smashing bones in the knee perhaps) rushing to the lungs results in a pulmonary embolism and a person dies pretty quickly. That’s one way. There is also an artery running behind the knee toward the ankle.
Well, maybe, just maybe she didn’t have it in her heart to want to kill anyone. Maybe thats why she was trained to shoot for the knee.Yes, I would have aimed at the chest or head, especialy since most strolers are about knee level.
If her shot hit him a bit higher than the knee, say in the femoral artery, well it wouldn't take long before he'd be pushing up the daisies.
Maybe she missed his knee, and hit a little higher?
“It is unclear if Easterly could face criminal charges in the shooting.”
Armed robber attempting kidnap of baby????
To whom is it “unclear”?
What’s with being taught to shoot him in the knee??
Seems she was capable of shooting straight, so why not center mass??
He was armed and a shot to the knee doesn’t stop him from shooting back!!
She said that for insurance purposes./s
thankfully no one applied the requisite tourniquet
Story sounds like the perp died of shock because of blood loss.
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