Cassopolis, MI

 8/18/23 WOOD:

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. (WOOD) — Newly-released surveillance video shows a Cass County gas station customer firing seven shots at a suspected armed robber, all while holding a six-pack of light beer.

The July 27 shooting at the Stone Lake Marathon Mini Mart seriously injured the suspect, who had armed himself with a box cutter....

“You know why I’m here” is how the robber announced himself that day, according to police reports.

The gas station surveillance video showed the customer holding a six-pack of Miller Lite as the suspect, dressed in black, walked in.

The suspect, identified in court records as Cordelius Anthony Martin, 35, of Dowagiac, pulled a mask over his face.

Another angle showed him approaching the store clerk.

Police said he threatened the clerk with a box cutter. 

Detroit, MI

12/23/16 WXYZ:

DETROIT (WXYZ - Detroit police say a CPL holder shot and wounded two men who tried to carjack him at a gas station in northwest Detroit early Friday morning.

According to police, it happened just after midnight in the area of 7 Mile Rd. and Shiawassee at the Valero gas station.

Blackman Township, MI

12/27/16 MLIVE:

BLACKMAN TWP., MI - Police are continuing to search for an intruder believed to have been shot when he entered the home of an elderly man on Winifred Street.

As of Tuesday morning, he had not been found, Blackman-Leoni Township public safety Deputy Director Christoper Boulter wrote in an email.

A man fired at least four times Friday night at the intruder, said to be armed with a knife, and the man fled with the homeowner's gun and pickup truck.

Police believe the shooting was justified. "Someone came into his home, was armed with a knife, and assaulted him. He does not have a duty to retreat, and he was defending himself," Boulter wrote.

Detroit, MI

8/22/16 Detroit News:

A 91-year-old concealed pistol license holder shot a man who was attempting to rob him Monday in Eastpointe, according to police.

The victim was exiting his car around 10:15 a.m. and heading into the Rite Aid on Gratiot near Nine Mile when an unknown suspect in his late 20s approached, Sgt. Martin Campbell said.

“He attempted to rob (the victim) and (the victim) had a CPL and ended up shooting the suspect,” Campbell said. “It’s as simple as that.”

The would-be robber was struck in the neck and fled across Gratiot, where he was arrested by responding officers.

“Two detectives found him walking over there,” Campbell said. “He had a gunshot wound to the neck but he was talking and acting erratic.”

The erratic behavior initially prompted alarm bells for his intended target, Campbell said.

“The suspect approached and began to act erratic. (The victim) told him he had a gun, he warned him three or four times and even had the gun pointed at him,” Campbell said. “But the suspect kept coming and pointed an unknown object at the victim.”

Lansing, MI

From April 19, 2015 Lansing State Journal:

LANSING – "I shot him. It was me," the man shouted to police.

Minutes earlier, he had intervened in a domestic dispute prosecutors say could have left him and his female neighbor dead. Prosecutors ruled he acted in self-defense last year when he wrestled a gun away from Christopher Strong, 27, and shot him with it.

None of that was immediately clear the night of Sept. 16. Police found the neighbor performing CPR on Strong when they arrived around 10 p.m. to the South Pine Street apartment where Strong lived with his girlfriend. Strong, shot once in the chest, died at the scene a short time later. Police handcuffed the neighbor, who at one point appeared on the verge of passing out and asked to speak to his pastor, according to police reports.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III ruled Strong's death a justifiable homicide late last year, he confirmed earlier this month.

Robbing A Poker Game Is Stupid

From Jul. 1, 2015 WNEM:

SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, MI (WNEM) -
The Saginaw County Prosecutor has announced that a deadly shooting at a poker game was ruled justifiable homicide.

The incident happened about 12 a.m. March 12 at Camelot Place Apartments on Ivanhoe Drive. The area is off of Center Road, between Gratiot and Michigan Avenue in Saginaw Township.

A high stakes poker game was allegedly going on at the apartment. Christopher Talkington, one of the poker players, orchestrated the robbery, police said.

Gunfire was exchanged between one of the participants and the suspects.

Ramon Caesar Vasquez, 25, was shot during the incident. He later passed away at the hospital, police said. Police did not mention if Vasquez was a poker player or one of the suspects.

Read more: http://www.wnem.com/story/28402139/three-men-charged-after-shooting-at-alleged-poker-game#ixzz3tm3B4sMg

Take Him To Detroit!

From Fox 2 Detroit:

DETROIT - A group of men terrorized food truck operators and bar owners in Detroit.

Police busted the two of three suspects after one victim finally decided to take matters into his own hands. The Mexican Town crime spree was stopped thanks to a sharp security guard, a brave victim and good old fashioned police work.

They would eventually be stopped when they tried to hold up Happy Bar on Green Street, thanks to the owner.

Felipe Orozco walked into the bathroom, slipped a red mask on, came out and demanded money from the owner. They argued, then Orozco shot him in the leg..

The bad guy messed with the wrong victim. The owner of the bar, a CPL holder himself, pulled out his weapon and fired back multiple times.

Orozco's partners in crime saw how badly he was wounded, picked him up and dumped him at Detroit Receiving Hospital.

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

From Oct. 22, 2015 Mlive:

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The mother of a man killed outside of New York Fried Chicken has filed a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the restaurant for allegedly failing to call 911.

Kimberly Williams contends that her son, Terrance Bruce Williams, 24, could have survived if emergency workers were summoned earlier.

Her son's Oct. 21, 2012, killing in the restaurant parking lot was ruled justifiable homicide.

Surveillance video showed Williams approach Thomas Albert-Earl Davis with what appeared to be a gun, pointed at Davis, police said.

Davis hunched down, popped up and fired at Williams. Williams ran to a van that left for the hospital, police said.

Police said he died after surgery.

Do I understand this?  Her son did something so stupid and unlawful that his death was ruled justifiable homicide, and she is demanding $5 million because the restaurant didn't call 911?

I remember many years ago taking a concealed weapons class in Cal8ifornia, and the deputy sheriff teaching it explained that if you ever engage in a completely righteous shoot, all the dead guy's family will come out of the woodwork to file suit. Proof positive.

Detroit Purse Snatcher Shot By Victim

Detroit, Michigan

From the September 25, 2009 Lansing (Michigan) State-Journal:

DETROIT - A 43-year-old woman shot and killed a suspected purse snatcher who confronted her at a northwest Detroit gas station this morning, according to police.

Two men approached the Detroit woman at about 5:30 a.m. at the Schoolcraft and Southfield Mobil station, Detroit Police spokesman John Roach said. The woman is licensed to legally carry a gun for self-defense, he said.

"They didn't realize she has a CCW (license), so she had a weapon of her own," Roach said. "She fired several rounds at the suspects and they fled."

The pair made off with the woman's purse. But about a half-hour later, a man with several gunshot wounds went to Sinai-Grace Hospital for treatment and died later this morning.

"At this point, we believe this is one of the individuals in the robbery," Roach said about the man who was shot.

Michigan: Resident expels intruder with handgun

Traverse City, Michigan

From the Record Eagle of September 22, 2009

Resident expels intruder with handgun

An allegedly drunken man who entered a Traverse City home in the middle of the night found himself at gunpoint.

Aaron TwoCrow, 24, of Suttons Bay, allegedly entered a home on the 800 block of Fern Street at about 4:20 a.m. Saturday, police said. A female homeowner was up rocking her 15-month-old child in the living room when she heard her kitchen door open and saw a stranger in the home.

"She's just sitting there in the dead of night ... and this guy comes in and scares the crap out of her," Traverse City Police Capt. Steve Morgan said.

The woman ran into her bedroom and told her sleeping husband, who retrieved a handgun and confronted TwoCrow. He ran from the house and was arrested without incident as he walked along nearby Hannah Avenue.

TwoCrow allegedly was intoxicated, Morgan said.

Police said TwoCrow has no known past or present connection to the residence, and gave no indication why he decided to go inside.

Such incidents happen occasionally in the city, police said. Homeowners are startled, though it's the intruders who often face the highest risk.

"That's a dangerous situation ... with an armed homeowner," Morgan said. "(Homeowners) don't know what these people's intent is, and you can only assume the worst when someone is coming into your house."

TwoCrow allegedly entered through an unlocked door, as did two intoxicated men who entered Traverse City residences in similar incidents in June. Intoxicated individuals who wander around town late at night "do things that are unexpected and often illegal," Morgan said, and residents are encouraged to lock up before they go to bed.

"The main thing is to keep your door locked," he said. "That would prevent a lot of this stuff from happening."

TwoCrow was charged with misdemeanor illegal entry, Grand Traverse Prosecutor Alan Schneider said.

Michigan: Woman: Shooting man was self-defense

Bedford Township, Michigan

From the Battle Creek Enquirer of August 22, 2009

Woman: Shooting man was self-defense

A 70-year-old Bedford Township woman said Friday she had no choice but to shoot a man coming at her with a shovel.

"I didn't want to hurt him but I didn't want him to hurt me," Virginia Hawes said in an interview at her home in Bedford Hills Mobile Village. "I didn't want to kill him. I just wanted to stop him. If he would have stopped, no one would have gotten hurt."

Battle Creek police said Hawes shot Nicholas Beltz, 24, in the leg in her yard about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"He kept coming at me. I pointed the gun at his head, but I didn't want to shoot him in the head. I wimped out," she said.

Hawes said Beltz threatened her after she called police because his girlfriend, Emily Bannister, 18, said she was being assaulted.

Hawes said Bannister came to sit on her porch until police came. When Beltz began walking toward them, Hawes said she warned him to stay off her property.

"She was sitting on the porch and she got up but I told her to stay," Hawes said. "He said he just wanted to talk to her and he wanted to tell her he loved her and he kept coming. I thought he was going to hurt her."

Hawes' grandson, Bryan Hawes, 23, was outside with his grandmother and picked up a shovel, held it out horizontally in an attempt to block Beltz. But Beltz pushed Bryan Hawes aside and took the shovel.

Virginia Hawes said that is when she went inside her home, put five bullets in her .38-caliber revolver and walked back outside, holding the gun to her side.

She bought the handgun in March as protection from a former family member, registered it and had taken classes and practiced at South Side Sportsman Club in Battle Creek.

"I told him to get back and he kept walking toward me. I put the gun up and told him to get back or I will shoot. He called me an old bitch and he kept coming at me and holding the shovel."

Hawes said he told Beltz a half-dozen times to stop and leave her property.

When they were about four feet apart, she said he dropped the shovel but continued forward.

"He said, 'Shoot me in the head old bitch and I will take the gun away from you,' and I thought, 'If I shoot him in the head, how can he take the gun away?'"

Hawes said she believed that Beltz had been drinking and taking drugs and she decided she had to shoot.

She pointed the gun at his foot and pulled the trigger but said he stepped into the bullet and it hit him above the right knee.

"I figured I had to stop him. He was too drunk or high to understand," she said. "He went down like a tree."

After the shooting, Hawes went back inside the trailer, put the gun away and told her grandson to call police. When officers arrived, Beltz was on the ground moaning and she was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car after officers went inside to retrieve the gun.

Hawes, her grandson and witnesses were taken to the police station and questioned and she was released.

"I was prepared to spend a night in jail, but I didn't want to."

She doesn't regret the shooting.

"He was on our property and we were in danger. I didn't want to shoot in the air. I probably could have reached out and conked him with the gun.

"I have nothing to say to him. I really don't want to see him anymore."

Detective Sgt. Carter Bright of the Battle Creek Police Department said a report about the shooting will be sent to the prosecutor's office "but it appears to be self defense."

Bright said warrants have been issued charging domestic violence against Beltz and his girlfriend and assault and battery against Beltz, with Bryan Hawes as the victim.

Beltz's mother, Denise, said Friday afternoon her son remains in the hospital with significant pain.

"I am very upset by this. It was wrong that she had a gun and shot him. Nick is very upset and doesn't know why she did it."

Denise Beltz insisted her son would not hurt anyone and that her understanding was that he had turned to walk away when he was shot in the back of the leg; Bright said that theory does not appear to be true.

"It doesn't give her a right to have a gun when Nick didn't have a gun," Denise Beltz said.

Michigan: Teen tries to rob Detroiter, ends up shot by victi

Detroit, Michigan

From the Detroit News of August 25, 2009

Teen tries to rob Detroiter, ends up shot by victi

A 17-year-old would-be armed robber had the tables turned on him this morning when his intended victim pulled out his own gun and shot the teen, police said.

Now, instead of the money he allegedly sought to steal, the teen will get a lengthy hospital stay -- and, if he recovers and is convicted, a lengthy prison sentence.

The incident happened about 5 a.m. this morning behind an apartment building at 1670 Oakman, Detroit Police spokesman John Roach said.

"The 17-year-old came up behind a 32-year-old man behind the apartment building and tried to rob him at gunpoint," Roach said. "But the 32-year-old had a CCW (a license to carry a concealed weapon), and had his own sidearm with him. He pulled his weapon and they exchanged gunfire."

When the shooting was over, the 32-year-old had only suffered a minor injury to the head, while the alleged bandit was seriously wounded. He was taken to an area hospital, where he remains in critical condition, Roach said.

"If he recovers, he'll likely be charged with armed robbery, and probably attempted murder," Roach said.

Detroit Cabbie Kills Armed Robber

Detroit, Michigan

From July 23, 2009 channel 4:

DETROIT -- The victim of an armed robbery shot and killed his robber Thursday morning, police said.Police said an armed man attempted to rob a cab driver at the Citgo Gas Station on McNichols Street around 5 a.m.

The cab driver pulled out a gun and fired several rounds, striking the thief three times, said police.

The man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he died.

Police said the 38-year-old shooter called police to report the shooting. He is now in custody and being questioned.

Police said the cab driver had a legitimate license to carry a concealed weapon.

From the comments:

i helped his aunt write his obituary, and it saddened me to realize that the handful of pictures and the short paragraphs in the obituary summed up his brief life. that's it. he was only 17. i wish he had listened to his family who tried to set him straight, but in his case -- as is often the case for young, misunderstood black boys -- the streets and his "friends" were louder. we'll never know what or who freddrick could have been.

Pontiac Man Robs The Wrong Partygoers

Pontiac, Michigan

From July 19, 2009 Detroit channel 4:

PONTIAC, Mich. -- Neighbors in one community said a man was shot and killed early Sunday morning after he interrupted a neighborhood party and robbed some of the partygoers.

"It's like playground rules. They just broke one of them by going in and robbing and turning your back on someone," neighbor Andre said.

Andre said 29-year-old Gregory Scott interupted a dice game in the basement of a house in the 300 block of Seward Street in Pontiac at about 3:30 a.m.

Andre said Scott pulled a gun on partygoers and robbed them. "He goes in, pulls out a gun, let off a shot or two to make the person come out his money, and he was fine with that and turned his back," Andre said. "But everybody had pistols ... lights went off on him then."

Andre said the man was shot several times as he ran up the stairs and out of the house.

"He made it outside. He fell outside," Andre said.

Neighbors said two other people were also wounded but were able to walk away from the scene.

Michigan: Neighborhood watch president shoots, kills dog; its owner disputes the need

Saginaw, Michigan

From the Saginaw News of June 25, 2009

Neighborhood watch president shoots, kills dog; its owner disputes the need

Tensions are high on a Saginaw street where the neighborhood watch president shot and killed his neighbor's dog.

Jose Barajas, Southwest Saginaw Neighborhood Association president, told police he shot Onyx, a 50-plus-pound pit bull and shar-pei mix, with a 40-caliber Glock after the dog broke its chain and charged him at 1223 Maple on June 18.

Barajas said he was working outside the house next door when he heard a resident crying for help. Diana M. Fick, 52, said she was mowing her backyard about 7:30 p.m. when neighbor Samantha A. Griffus' dog lunged at her. Fick said Onyx perched atop the tailgate shell and jumped off toward her, breaking his chain. She said she screamed for the owner and used the lawnmower as a buffer to keep the dog at bay.

Griffus didn't hear her, but Barajas did. When the dog turned on him, he said he shot it two times.

Barajas "didn't have an option," Fick said "He popped him."

Griffus, 19, said the dog was on a 10-foot chain attached to a tailgate shell on the lawn. She said Barajas had no right to shoot her dog because it hadn't left her property.

Splatters of the dog's blood are still on the tailgate shell, Griffus said. She said she thinks Onyx was chained when Barajas shot him and broke the chain afterward. A few weeks ago, Barajas had threatened to "shoot the dog if it pooped in his yard again," Griffus said.

Barajas has a permit to carry a concealed weapon and often patrols his neighborhood as part of its watch group.

Saginaw police investigated and cleared Barajas.

"If I wouldn't have been there, that neighbor would have likely gone to the hospital," he said.

Griffus went onto her porch overlooking the area where Onyx was chained after hearing the gunshots and her dog "yarp." Onyx had run off; Barajas was standing in her yard, his cell phone to his ear, with his gun visible in its holster, she said.

Barajas is "the greatest guy you ever want to meet," Fick said. "It's not like he just goes around the neighborhood shooting dogs."

Wounded in the face and abdomen, Onyx ran toward the front of the home, approached the front door -- where blood stains remain on the concrete steps of the porch -- and ran across the street. Griffus found him in a neighbor's kennel with the chain still clipped to his collar, Griffus said.

She took it to Great Lakes Pet Emergencies in Carrollton Township but returned with the dog because she couldn't afford the $1,275 bill to treat it or $289 to euthanize it. Onyx died at 11:30 p.m.

Michigan: Gun Turned On Would-Be Robber

Detroit, Michigan

From WDIV of June 11, 2009

Gun Turned On Would-Be Robber

A 16-year-old was shot and wounded with his own gun Thursday morning during an attempted robbery on Detroit's west side, police said.

Two teenagers, one carrying a rifle and the other a handgun, approached a man at the BPS Gas Station on Plymouth Road and the northbound Southfield Service Drive around 6:40 a.m.

The robbery victim grabbed a gun out of the teen's hand and shot him with it.

The wounded teen jumped into a vehicle and attempted to drive away, but crashed into several cars on Forrer Street.

He was transported to Sinai Grace Hospital and is in stable condition.

The other robber fled the area. There are unconfirmed police reports that the second robbery suspect was arrested in downtown Detroit.

Michigan: Detroit woman fires shots through window at would-be intruders

Detroit, Michigan

From the Detroit Free Press of May 13, 2009

Detroit woman fires shots through window at would-be intruders

A homeowner on the Detroit's east side thwarted three robbers by firing out of her bedroom as the men made their way up the steps inside her home, according to police.

A neighbor at 5 a.m. today noticed the three men breaking in the kitchen window of the home in the 900 block of Algonquin, according to Detroit Police.

He called the cell phone of the man who lives there, who was on his way home from work. The homeowner then called his wife, woke her and told her to get their gun.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, she fired a number of shots, missing the thieves. The husband arrived home just as the men were climbing back out of the window, and they escaped.

Michigan: Man who assisted wounded store owner says he knows the suspect in Leonard Short Stop robbery

Grand Rapids, Michigan

From Grand Rapids News of March 31, 2009

Man who assisted wounded store owner says he knows the suspect in Leonard Short Stop robbery

When Amos Bell spotted the owner of the Leonard Short Stop chasing a masked gunman Tuesday morning, he didn't hesitate to help.

He got out of the car he was riding in, and gave chase.

"(The owner) was running up the street with a gun," said Bell, 18. "I knew it wasn't going to be nothing good."

Bell and the owner, who had been shot in the leg in the 10:40 a.m. holdup, lost sight of the robber, but police caught the suspect a half-hour later hiding in some bushes. Police brought Bell and the hobbled owner, whose name wasn't released, to the scene of the capture to identify the robber.

Once there, it got a little more complicated for Bell: Not only was he a friend to the store owner, stopping to chat every day, but he knew the alleged robber, too.

"It was one of my buddies, that's the bad thing about it," Bell said. "A guy I'm cool with."

Still, he said, he could not defend the robbery, particularly hitting the store, at 1038 Leonard St. NW, that serves the neighborhood and seems to sell virtually everything.

"He's a nice guy," Bell said of the store's owner. "This is the corner store. He's just trying to help us out."

Police caught up to the suspect just after 11 a.m., and found a handgun, too. Officers were responding to a call that a store owner, armed with a long gun, was chasing a man who had just shot him.

The owner told Bell that he was shot in the leg when he refused the robber's demand for cash. Police recovered the $800 reported stolen.

The owner returned to his store after Tuesday's shooting, walking with a limp and the sides of his denims slit for examination by paramedics. Awaiting ambulances soon left after the man said he didn't need to go to the hospital, Bell said.

The store remained closed after Tuesday's shooting.

Michigan: Oshtemo Township homeowner fires shots at burglars

Oshtemo Township, Michigan

From the Kalamazoo News of March 10, 2009

Oshtemo Township homeowner fires shots at burglars

An armed homeowner in Oshtemo Township scared off a pair of burglars earlier this week when he fired two shots from his gun, police said Tuesday.

No one was injured, according to a press release from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office.

Police said two suspects broke into the house in the 7000 block of West H Avenue Monday afternoon. They were confronted by the armed homeowner, who fired two shots before the suspects fled in a small vehicle.

Deputies located the vehicle and arrested one of the suspects, an 18-year-old man, lodging him on home invasion charges at the Kalamazoo County Jail.

Police continue to look for the second suspect, who was only described as a "small individual with longer hair," the press release said.

Michigan: Business owner shoots would-be robber

Auburn, Michigan

From WJRT of January 21, 2009

Business owner shoots would-be robber

A Bay County man went to great lengths to protect himself and his business Wednesday night after two people tried to rob him.

It happened just after 7 p.m. in the village of Auburn at Evergreen Insurance on Midland Road.

Police say the suspects wore masks when they tried to make their way inside. The business owner shot one suspect, and the other is still on the loose.

The suspects were believed to be armed. A suspect vehicle was located. Police say they believe the suspect that left the vehicle is on foot.