Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

From the February 20, 2007 Oklahoman
:
Three men remained jailed Tuesday after an Oklahoma City pawn shop owner shot and wounded two of them Monday as they demanded money from his employees at gunpoint.

The robbery attempt was at about 6 p.m., and was captured on a surveillance camera inside Joe's Pawn and Bargain Center, 1825 NE 23.

Three suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery. They are: Robert Jamel Pennington, 17, , shot in the shoulder; Kentrell Smith, 16, shot in the left elbow and left thigh, and Garrick Lee Thomas, 17, who was not shot, police said.

Pennington and Smith were treated for gunshot wounds at an Oklahoma City hospital.

Mike Wilbanks owns the pawn shop. He said he was in an office when he was alerted the robbery was unfolding. His office looks out on the sales floor through a one-way mirror; people on the store side see their own reflection, but he can see them through the glass.

Wilbanks didn't notice the robbers at first. It wasn't until an employee came bursting into the office, white-faced and breathless, that he learned what was happening.

He pulled a 9 mm Sig Sauer semi-automatic out of his desk drawer and peered through the glass. He could see his employee, Daniel Ray, standing on the far side of the counter with a gun to his head. He could see another employee pawing money out of the register. And he could see the gunman.

"I got him in my sights,” said Wilbanks, 39, "but I didn't want to endanger anyone else. At some point, he started waving the gun around at other employees, telling them to give him the cash, and my manager backed way, way up, completely out of my line of fire. As soon as that happened, I had a clean shot on him, and I just started pulling the trigger.”

Wilbanks' gun was loaded with special safety rounds designed to prevent stray bullets from penetrating walls or other hard surfaces and accidentally striking innocent victims. Wilbanks pulled the trigger four times, shattering the mirror and apparently striking the gunman, then fired four more times as the robbers fled.
UPDATE: No date (but apparently early April 2007) KTEN channel 10:
Pawnshop owner won't face charges
KTEN Local News
New Durant Emergency Response Complex
Grayson County Sheriff's Office Breaks Up Identity Theft Ring
Sulphur Fire
Ardmore Bank Robbery
Cartwright Sales Tax Fails By Three Votes
Ardmore Special Response Team Training
Ardmore School Bond Fails Again
Legal Action Taken Against Asphalt Plant

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma County prosecutors decline to charge two men who shot at three would-be robbers at an Oklahoma City pawn shop.

Joe's Pawn and Bargain Center owner Michael Paul Wilbanks and employee Patrick Joseph Diorio fired about a dozen shots at three teenagers who tried to rob the store February 19th.

According to police, a robber had aimed a gun at another employee's head.

Two of the teens were injured and now all three face charges of robbery with a firearm.

Prosecutors reviewed police reports about the shooting and declined to file charges against Wilbanks or Diorio, calling their actions justified.

No comments:

Post a Comment