Yuba City, California

From the Marysville Appeal-Democrat of August 11, 2007

Alleged robber shot down

Man dies at Percy Avenue Market in YC

A man died Friday night after allegedly robbing a Yuba City grocery store and trying to flee.

Police responded to the Percy Avenue Market at around 8:30 p.m. after they received reports of a man who had been shot.

Deputy Police Chief Rob Landon said the suspect robbed the market, but never left the premises.

“He made it to the other side of the parking lot and expired,” Landon said.

Landon did not release the identity of the shooter, but friends of the store clerk said weapons are kept in the store.

The deputy police chief would not say whether a store clerk shot the alleged robber nor confirm that the deceased died of gunshot wounds.
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Police are still investigating the incident.

From Sacramento’s Fox40.com of August 11, 2007

Robbery Suspect Shot & Killed By Store Owner

A deadly shooting is being called self-defense, after a convenience store clerk in Yuba City took matters into her own hands during a robbery.

"We heard a couple gunshots and saw a bunch of people running," said Matt Lewis, who witnessed the incident. In normally quiet Yuba City, hearing gunshots will send people running, and it did on Friday night at the Percy Avenue Market.

About 8:15 p.m., a white man in his thirties wearing a dark jacket walked into the empty store. He demanded money at gunpoint. The female clerk, also one of the market's owners, gave him all she had, which was less than one hundred dollars. "He demanded more cash, and as he demanded more that's when the clerk pulled out a gun and shot the suspect," said Sergeant Kim Slade of the Yuba Police Department.

Shot in the chest, the man stumbled into the parking lot and died. Police found his gun and the money he had stolen in his coat.

"It was horrible, especially in your neighborhood. I mean, that's my house right there and this is my store," said Lewis.

Back at work on Saturday, but much too shaken to speak on camera, the woman and her husband say this is the worst experience in their 24 years of operation. It's not the first time the store has been robbed. Back in 1992, a man came in, demanded money and got into a scuffle with the owner. He ended up getting shot in the stomach and the suspect got away. The couple says they've learned a lot about self-defense since then.

The suspect is from the area but his identity has not been released. Police are investigating, but say the shooting looks to be self-defense. "We try and advise people not to take the law into their own hands. We look at each case differently, but it's kind of a spur of the moment thing, how one feels," said Slade.

From the Marysville Appeal-Democrat of August 20, 2007

Owner will not be charged

A Yuba City market owner who shot and killed an armed robber will not be charged with a crime, Sutter County District Attorney Carl Adams said today.

Adams said the woman, who co-owns the Percy Avenue Market, acted in self-defense when she pulled a .38 caliber revolver from a drawer the night of Aug. 10 and shot Billy Lloyd Saling at point blank range.

Adams did not name the woman in a press release but confirmed she is Suad Hamdan, wife of co-owner Chris Hamdan. She earlier declined comment.

Saling had a loaded .22 caliber revolver in his hand when Hamdan fired one time, hitting him in the upper left chest. She fired a second time as he ran out the door but missed and hit a wall, said Adams.

Saling collapsed and died in a parking lot five to eight seconds after being hit, the district attorney said.

“It’s pretty clear she was convinced he would shoot her,” said Adams. “It’s clear she thought her life was at risk