Chicago, Illinois

From CBS2Chicago.com of September 24, 2007

West Side Store Clerk Shoots Alleged Robber

Man In Stable Condition After Being Shot In Head, Police Say

A store clerk on the West Side fought back against an alleged robber, shooting him in the head. Chicago police say Monday evening the suspect is in stable condition.

As CBS 2's Mike Flannery reports, the hardware store is just one block from another store that police say was robbed at gunpoint last week.

Police believe a hole in the front door of South Side Hardware was created by one of the shots fired as a clerk tried to defend himself from an armed robber.

Investigators and evidence technicians also believe the dark red drops staining the sidewalk nearby came from the offender as he fled with a bullet in his head.

"He produced the weapon, announced the robbery," said Sgt. Rich Dowling of the Chicago Police Department. "The clerk produced the cash register, at which time he also produced a weapon, and he began firing at the offender."

A man who identified himself as belonging to a local street gang, but declined to give his name, said he is a close friend of the man who was shot.

"He our friend. We be together every day," the man said. "Just so happened today we weren't with him.

When asked if he thought his friend was trying to rob the hardware store, the man said, "He might have. He might was. If he feel he was robbin' that store, he did what he did."

A clerk at a currency exchange next door told CBS 2 that she and the hardware store's owner had called police last week after robbers took cash at gunpoint from a now-shuttered office. She feared that street gang members were sizing them up in preparation for attempting a robbery.

"It's time for us to stand up for the victims," Shirley Walls said. "This was a black-owned business. Black-owned."

She warmly praised the hardware store clerk who shot in self defense.

"He just got married. He has a family," Walls said. "He's trying to make an honest living...This guy came in on him."

Police told CBS 2 detectives had gone to Holy Cross Hospital to await permission from doctors to interview the wounded suspect.

Friends of the hardware store clerk said they did not know whether the handgun he fired in self-defense was legally registered. They said they hope he is not charged with any crime.