Albuquerque, New Mexico

From Albuquerque‘s KOBtv.com of February 10, 2007

Man armed with BB gun shot during robbery attempt

A man carrying a BB gun was shot by a Northeast Heights shop owner while attempting to hold it up Friday night.

The incident happened at about 7:30 at the Higher Source smoke shop near Lomas and Wyoming. The co-owner of the shop reportedly shot the suspected robber with a nine millimeter handgun.

When police arrived, they found the suspected robber with two to three gunshot wounds to the chest.

“It appears at this point that the offender, when he walked into the business, may have had a BB gun,” said APD spokeswoman Trish Hoffman. “It looks very much like a real gun and the business owner may have shot him.”

The suspected robber was rushed to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition. He has been identified only as a 34-year-old Hispanic man.

The co-owner of the shop was detained briefly for questioning and released.

From Albequerque’s KOBtv.com of February 14, 2007

Mother of robber says she’ll sue store owner

The mother of a man who was shot three times by the owner of store that the man was trying to rob says she intends to rob (sic) the store owner.

Lorraine Sena, the mother of 34-year-old Mitchell Sena, says her son admits to trying to rob the shop armed with a BB gun to get money for drugs. But she says shop owner John Kemm only needed to shoot her son once – not three times.

Kemm, the owner of Higher Source Smoke Shop, says, “I will do whatever I have to do to protect myself.”

Kemm’s version of the February 9th event and the version Mitchell Sena related to his mother differ.

“Through the camera, I saw a gun in his hand aiming at the register,” said Kemm. “I heard him shout, basically, ‘Give me all your money or I will shoot and kill you.’”

Kemm says he snatched his handgun and “at that precise moment I shot him with the first shot in the shoulder.”

Kemm says Sena continued to try to go for the BB gun, which Kenn thought was a real firearm, and Kemm shot Sena two more times – he claims in self defense.

But Lorraine Sena says her son claims the second and third shots were execution style and that her son begged not to be shot.

Police say that Mitchell Sena will be arrested and charged with armed robbery when he’s released from the hospital. Police have not charged Kemm with anything.