Friday, March 6, 2009

Illinois: Gun shop employee shoots robbery suspect

Waukegan, Illinois

From the Lake County News-Sun of March 5, 2009
Gun shop employee shoots robbery suspect

Five suspects were in custody after a shooting incident Wednesday afternoon at Schrank's Smoke 'N Gun where police said robbery was the apparent motive.

One male suspect was flown to a hospital after suffering three gunshot wounds. An employee of the gun shop was treated at an area hospital.

According to witness accounts, a subject went behind the counter at the store at 2010 Washington St., and was engaged with a store clerk in a verbal altercation that turned physical, Waukegan Police Cmdr. Wayne Walles said.

At one point, the store clerk produced a pistol and fired at the subject, striking him in the chest twice and once in the leg.

The injured male suspect was flown by Flight For Life to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge where he was in surgery late Wednesday.

The store clerk inadvertently shot himself in the hand during the struggle, police said.

Two men outside the store were taken into custody immediately after the shooting. Police Chief William Biang said they were detained because they had been inside the store with the other suspect at some point.

Police later said a total of four people, besides the male who was shot, were taken into custody in connection with the incident.

"Four other subjects who were at the scene at the time of this incident have been located and are being interviewed by police," said Walles. No identities in the case were released.

Two men who didn't want to be identified at the scene at 1:45 p.m. said they had an appointment to sell or trade some guns, but couldn't because of the police and emergency vehicle at the store.

"If we had come 15 minutes earlier, we would have been in there," one said. They were both amazed anyone would try anything in the store because employees openly carry weapons, and the manager of the store is a marksman who teaches shooting classes.

Washington Street was shut down for about an hour and nearby Waukegan High School was put on lock down.

Police told the school to put "Code White" into effect, which means everyone must stay put, said Biang, but the school issued a "Code Red" instead, used when a gunman is inside the school.

The shooting is the second by a store employee in Waukegan in less than six months. A store clerk fatally shot a 20-year-old robber who tried to flee the scene of a grocery store on Lincoln Avenue in October after the North Chicago man entered the store carrying a gun and demanding money.

In January, the clerk was cleared of any wrongdoing by a Lake County grand jury which ruled the shooting was in self defense.

No comments:

Post a Comment