Windsor, Colorado

From the Denver Post of July 10, 2005

Suspect shot in head by liquor store owner

An armed-robbery suspect was in critical condition at North Colorado Medical Center after being shot in the head Friday afternoon by the Windsor liquor store owner he allegedly attempted to stick up.

According to the Weld County Sheriff's Department, the suspect, identified as 32-year-old Douglas Wies, entered the Corner Liquors store near 6th Street and Ash in Windsor about 5 p.m. Friday with a mask covering his face. He held what appeared to be a weapon wrapped in a scrap of cloth.

The suspect forced three people, including store owner Ron Trauernicht, his wife, Norma, and a customer into the narrow cooler that ran the length of the store, the sheriff's office said. All three escaped through the cooler's back exit.

Trauernicht hurried back into his store. He grabbed a gun he kept behind the counter and told an uncompliant Wies to drop his weapon, according to the sheriff's office.

After a short standoff, Trauernicht fired at the startled robber. The bullet went straight into the weapon Wies held - the mouth of an aluminium garden hose nozzle disguised by a T-shirt rag, the sheriff's office said.

The bullet pierced the lightweight nozzle and struck Wies in the forehead. Wies was airlifted to North Colorado Medical Center, where he remained in the critical care unit Saturday.