Seattle, Washington



From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of November 21, 2003

Bullets fly in holdup of Beacon Hill store



Grocer grazed, but he wounds robber; customer shot, too



Between errands yesterday, Christine Gonzalez decided to swing by the Latin American grocery that her husband, Tony, has run on Beacon Hill for 11 years, just stopping by to chat on an ordinary Thursday afternoon.



But this time was different.



"I walked in to see a man holding a gun on my husband and asking him for all the money in the till," she said last night.



And then it got worse.



"All of a sudden, there were guns being fired and all hell broke loose," she said, "and I'm terrified, and I'm thinking he's going to shoot Tony."



He did shoot Tony, the bullet grazing Gonzalez's left hand between his ring finger and little finger.



But Tony shot back. The robber, wounded, fell by the door, then staggered down the sidewalk before collapsing, scattering money in the street, Christine Gonzalez said. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center and likely will survive, police said.



A customer in the store also was hit by a bullet, in the cheek, Christine Gonzalez said.



Neither the holdup man nor the injured customer was identified by police. The robber, who police said dropped his handgun at the store, has not been charged. A 23-year-old Burien man was arrested in an alley behind the store as a suspected accomplice, police said.



...



After a rash of holdups at mom-and-pop stores was reported in the newspapers a few years ago, Tony Gonzalez bought a gun for protection at work, his wife said. But, although other businesses in the neighborhood have been held up, he never had to pull his weapon -- until 2:15 p.m. yesterday.