Macclenny, Florida

From Jacksonville’s FirstCoastNews.com of February 25, 2005

Pawn Shop Shoot-Out

The small town of Macclenny in Baker County is usually a quiet place, not much crime here; but that wasn't the case this week.

There was a shootout at a local pawn shop, but the armed robber didn't do the shooting, it was the pawn shop owner.

Bruce Sales owns Duval Gun and Pawn in downtown Macclenny. He says on Wednesday just after 1-pm everything happened so quickly. He says a man came into his pawn shop and asked to look at a knife, but before he knew it the man had a gun pointed right at him. Sales says, "Had a gun in his hands and started yelling at me to get on my knees and put a pillow case over my head."

Sales thought the man was going to kill him so he started wrestling with him over the gun. Sales says, "We fought for ten or fifteen seconds, then he put the gun in my face closer and cocked it and I knew then, if I didn't get him then I'd be a dead man." Sales grabbed the suspect's hand and the gun went off, luckily into the ceiling. Sales then quickly grabbed for a loaded gun on his desk. Sales says, "He had already told me he was going to kill me so I shot him, or I shot at him."

The bullets didn't hit the suspect, they hit a glass case in the store instead. The gun shots however, were enough to scare the suspect out of the store. About 8 hours later, a block away, police caught up with the suspect and took him down with a taser.

Baker County Sheriff's Office Chief Chuck Brannan says, "Mr. Sale being a gunshot (sic) owner gave an excellent description of the pistol and matched it perfectly to the pistol we got from the suspect later that night."

Glenn Schofield is in the Baker County jail for the pawn shop robbery. He is facing numerous charges including armed robbery. Police say he has a lengthy criminal history, including two homicide arrests.