From Columbia’s WIStv.com of June 6, 2006
Farrow Rd. shooting injures suspect
Richland County deputies are searching for two robbers. They believe one of the teens should be easy to spot. He's got a gun shot to the leg.
How did the suspect end up shot? Jerome McFadden, a father and store owner, is also now a hero, "You got to do what you got to do, and because of my son I put my life on the line here today."
Deputies say two teenagers held up Jerome's Fresh Meat and Produce Market on Farrow Road in Columbia. The owner wasn't there alone, his 12-year-old son was working with him.
Mcfadden says, "They told me if we called the police they would shoot all of us come back and kill us."
Defending his store, but more importantly, his son, McFadden fired two shots, hitting one robber in the leg. "I said you can do what you want, just don't hurt my son. They didn't hurt us. They took everything in the store except nickles [sic] and pennies."
McFadden says the teenagers robbed him of Newport cigarettes and about $700.
Richland County Sheriff's Department Lt. Chris Cowan says, "This is completely inexcusable crime - horrible. A man has been victimized, his son victimized and a community victimized as well."
This isn't the first time McFadden's been robbed. It happened two years ago, but it is the first time he's fought back.
McFadden says what's worse, the latest thieves may have robbed his son of a career in dad's footsteps. "He's shook up a little bit, and said, 'Dad I'm not coming back to work here tomorrow.' I couldn't force him."
McFadden says he may not open Wednesday, but the doors won't be shut for good, "This is part of his life. This is me. This is what I love doing."
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