Roselle, Illinois

From the Chicago Sun-Times of November 4, 2006

Shop owner kills would-be robber: cops

'He's been through a terrible ordeal'

The first sign of trouble came when workers at a Roselle restaurant heard muffled calls for help from a neighboring coin and comics shop.

Seconds later, a blood-stained Glenn Soustek burst into the restaurant, telling workers he had been shot by an intruder who tried to rob his shop.

Police rushed Friday morning to Soustek's business, Westlake Cards, Comics, Coins, and discovered 40-year-old Geoffrey A. Webb lying dead near the back of the store, a pistol still clenched in his hand.

Webb, who was on federal parole for a 1994 armed robbery, was shot several times by Soustek during what authorities described as a botched holdup.

Soustek, the 49-year-old shop owner, was wounded in the arm during an exchange of gunfire with Webb, whose last known address was in the St. Louis area. Soustek was treated for his injuries and later released.

The fatal shooting -- which was captured on the store's surveillance system -- was justified because Soustek was threatened, DuPage County officials said.

"It was absolutely clear the intruder had pulled a gun and threatened to shoot," DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said. "There clearly was an imminent threat to the shop owner's life."

(Much more detail)