Orlando, Florida Purse Snatcher Shot By Bystander

Orlando, Florida

From December 25, 2008 WESH:

ORLANDO, Fla. - Police continue to search for two men who tried to grab a woman’s purse as she walked toward the Fashion Square Mall on Tuesday.

A third man was shot and arrested, apparently by a bystander who saw the robbery, police said Wednesday. Willie Keys-Fairclough, 29, who is hospitalized with minor injuries, was arrested in connection with the incident.

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday when the woman got off a LYNX bus and walked to an ATM to check her balance. She then continued toward the mall.

“She felt people come up to her, maybe one, maybe two,” Sgt. Barb Jones of the Orlando Police Department said. “They tried to grab her purse...She resisted. She started yelling, that's when everything started unfolding."

One shopper, who saw the men with guns, got his own.

“You had a citizen engage the suspects,” Jones said Wednesday. “There were some rounds fired."

The suspects ran across the street, and police said they found one man hiding behind a dumpster. The man had been shot in the leg but didn't know it.

The man, later identified by police as Keys-Fairclough, is charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault with a gun. Two other suspects remain on the run.

Columbia, South Carolina Liquor Store Robber Shot

Columbia, South Carolina

From December 15, 2008 WIS channel 10:

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The Richland County Sheriff's Department is investigating a shooting on Shakespeare Road Wednesday in Columbia.

"I hope he don't die and if he comes back and look around, don't touch nothing else," says Sam Banks, talking candidly about the man he says tried to steal from his store. "I didn't go into business to lose money. We aren't making that much now, but I'm not about that losing."

The retired veteran wasn't at the store he co-owns with his wife Wednesday afternoon.

Deputies says around 3:00pm a man came in, tried to walk out with some liquor and got shot.

"I think they should respect the store owners property and their rights," says Banks.

Banks' wife, too shaken to talk on camera, said she was knitting a blanket when a young man walked into the S&H ABC Package Store on Shakespeare Road.

She says the man asked the price of a bottle of liquor. When she told him, he backed away from the counter and started to look around.

She says the man then crossed the employees-only chain, grabbed two bottles and headed toward her.

That's when she grabbed her .38 and fired two shots.

At least one person agrees with how she handled it.

"We have too many robbers in this neighborhood, all over the place. They're robbing for money, so the lady protected herself. She did the right thing," says Barbra Simmons.

The store has been around 10 years, and Banks says this is not the first time someone has tried to steal from him.

He has some advice for other would-be robbers: "The good book says thou shall not steal. Don't do that," he says.

Deputies say 28-year-old Oxvaria Ingram will be charged with strong-arm robbery.

As for the store owner, investigators haven't determined if she will face any charges.

Lincoln County, Nebraska Citizen Shoots Fleeing Felon

Lincoln County, Nebraska

From December 19, 2008 KSBI channel 52:

Lincoln County, Okla. -- A man who was shot is in jail himself. The incident happened Thursday night in Lincoln County.

Sheriff's deputies say it stems from an incident that happened last week.

Officials say Joshua Starkey broke into the man's house last week. The homeowner spotted him Thursday night while driving and followed him.

Starkey eventually stopped, got out of the car and started to run. That's when the homeowner fired the shot at Starkey's vehicle. Starkey was hit in the shoulder by a fragment. Starkey was arrested shortly after.

The homeowner was not arrested.

Officials say Starkey is responsible for other burglaries in the area and he also had $3,600 in warrants out against him.

A second suspect, Jason Cornett, was arrested last week for allegedly breaking into the home along with Starkey.

Nashville Perpetual Criminal Shot Dead In Robbery

Nashville, Tennessee

From the December 1, 2008 Nashville Tennessean:

A 22-year-old uniformed security guard who was buying gasoline at a Murfreesboro Pike station on Sunday shot and killed a robbery suspect carrying an air gun.

Metro detectives are ruling the death of Jamie L. Sullivan, 37, a justifiable homicide.

Wearing a mask and carrying what appeared to be a pistol, Sullivan entered the Mapco market at 2101 Murfreesboro Pike at 1:45 a.m.

Eric Gordon, 22, was also in the market. Sullivan pointed his pistol at Gordon's head and threatened to kill him. Sullivan told Gordon to surrender his holstered gun and a struggle ensued. Gordon drew his 9-millimeter weapon and shot Sullivan once in the face. Sullivan died at the scene.

Shortly after, detectives discovered that Sullivan's gun was a BB pistol that looked like a real gun.

Metro police had charged Sullivan with 146 offenses since June 1989. His last arrest was for trespassing Nov. 20.

Gainesville, Missouri Shooting Of Uncle Found Justifiable

Gainesville, Missouri

From December 8, 2008 Springfield, Missouri channel 3:

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- The Ozark County prosecuting attorney says the shooting death of a man from Dora was a case of justifiable homicide. He dropped murder charges against Floyd Russell, 24, who was charged with killing his uncle, Terry Russell, in October.

A coroner's jury found the death was the result of an ongoing family feud that turned violent with another relative.

Burglar Tries To Run Over Victim, Shot Dead

Columbus, Ohio

From the December 23, 2008 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer:

Ludwig Leonard Grudisher, the Columbus man fatally shot Saturday night at a Reese Road home, had been arrested two weeks earlier for firing a gun at the same house.

Columbus police said Grudisher, 52, was hit by a shotgun blast fired by his stepson around 9:45 p.m. Saturday night. He was accused of burglarizing the stepson’s home and then trying to run him down with his truck when he was shot.

Two weeks earlier, police say Grudisher was at the house. An arrest report from Dec. 7 states Grudisher, who lived less than 150 feet from his stepson’s home, fired several shots at the home and then fled in his vehicle.

The stepson saw Grudisher fire at his home, police said. Grudisher was arrested at 6:30 p.m. that day outside Grace Baptist Church. He appeared in Columbus Recorders Court the next day and was given a $10,000 bond.

Grudisher was out on a property bond at the time of his death, court records show.

Police have not filed any charges in the Saturday case, though it will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office.

South Carolina Burglar Shot In The Buttocks

Walhalla, South Carolina

From December 23, 2008 UpstateToday.com:

WALHALLA — The Oconee County Sheriff’s Department incident report lists Donnie Murphy as the victim, but it appears the suspect arrested for the burglary of Murphy’s house might have gotten the worst end of the deal.

Sheriff’s deputies responded Sunday afternoon to a burglary call at 163 Murphy Drive in Walhalla and learned that Murphy had shot a burglar in the buttocks. Kirby Alan Ridley was later brought into custody on burglary charges at a Ranger Road home in Walhalla and sent to Oconee Medical Center for treatment of his wound.

The report summary states Murphy told officers he was in the bathroom when he heard a noise near his kitchen. He then walked out of the bathroom, retrieved his .22 pistol from his closet, and discovered a man standing in front of his fireplace. After telling the burglar to stop, the subject allegedly reached into his pocket as if to get a gun or weapon and began walking back towards the kitchen, at which point Murphy shot him.

Deputies located Kirby, called an ambulance and followed him to Oconee Medical Center.