Lyford, Texas

From Harlingen‘s Team4News.com of December 3, 2005

Man Killed at Fruit Stand

A Lyford man was shot and killed Friday night after several armed men raided a fruit stand and stole the cash register, police said.

Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Eliseo Barnhart pronounced Juan Martinez dead at 9 p.m. According to Sheriff Larry Spence, three to six men entered the rear entrance of the Martinez Fruitstand about 8:10 p.m.

The men commanded two family members to get down on the ground and proceeded to take the cash register, which contained about $694, Spence said.

Upon hearing the disturbance from the family's adjoining trailer, Martinez went outside carrying a shotgun.

It was unknown whether Martinez fired the weapon, but witnesses said the armed men shot Martinez twice before making their getaway in a maroon extended-cab pickup.

Martinez was reportedly dead by the time EMS got to the scene.

Barnhart said an autopsy will be ordered

Newberry Springs, California

From the Barstow Desert Dispatch of December 3, 2005

Shooting may have been in self-defense

Officials: Newberry man said he thought victim was a burglar reaching for a weapon

A man shot to death on a local road Thursday may have been killed in self-defense, according to a report from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Troy Allen Creek, 41, from Inyokern, was identified Friday by the sheriff's department as the man law enforcement officials found lying on Harvard Road south of Bedford Road with a gunshot wound to the chest Thursday morning. Creek was pronounced dead by California Highway Patrol officers who had arrived at the scene by helicopter.

Shortly after law enforcement arrived, Eugene Ross Morris, 66, of Newberry Springs came to the crime scene. According to the sheriff's department, Morris had previously found Creek's disabled car on Harvard Road, full of property. Morris stopped to investigate, concerned that Creek might have burgled a nearby home.

Creek then ran towards Morris, yelling and threatening his life, according to the sheriff's department report. Morris said he saw Creek reach into his jacket and thought he was reaching for a weapon. Morris was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and fired one round into Creek's chest, according to the report.

Morris was detained by deputies at the scene and the shotgun was later seized from Morris' house.

The homicide division of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is continuing the investigation. The exact cause of Creek's death is pending the results of an autopsy. The case will be submitted to the Barstow District Attorney's Office for review.

Nashville, Tennessee

From Nashville’s NewsChannel5.com of December 3, 2005

Burglar Enters Through Hole in Roof

Charlie Lee says he stood face to face with a man who was taking cigarettes and money from his convenience store, the Main Street Market in East Nashville.

"I started. What are you doing here in this hour? How you get in?” said Lee.

It was 2:00 in the morning, and he had come down to turn off what seemed to be a false burglar alarm. The doors were locked. Everything was okay, until he walked behind the counter and saw the man and the hole in the ceiling.

“There was hole in there, so I pulled out my gun. I shoot a warning shot once. Move! Don't move! If you move you get hurt. Don't move,” said Lee.

Lee says the man grabbed a knife, one he sells in the store, then he hit the man at least twice with a stick while his wife called police.

Police found a backpack along with an axe handle, a screwdriver, hammer, pliers, cutters and even some goggles, apparently every type of tool you need to commit a burglary when they arrested the suspect.
30 year old Dodrick Losame Houston is in jail. Police say he is a suspect in several other Nashville burglaries.

“Same mode of entry. The hole through the roof. Same items taken cigarettes taken. It was apparent he knew what he was doing and had did it before,” said Carney White with Metro Police.

Lee says this was his first experience, and he hopes it's the last.

Metro Police said the suspect they arrested is also wanted in Memphis for burglaries there. And officers say it is best to wait for police before going in to turn off a business alarm.

Rock Hill, South Carolina

From the Rock Hill Herald of December 3, 2005

Robbery denied when clerk pulls out gun

A would-be robber was foiled this week by an armed store clerk, according to Rock Hill Police.

Around 9 p.m. Thursday, a person wearing all black clothing, a black ski mask and black gloves entered the Park Grocery store at 732 E. Main St.

The person pulled out a small black gun and shouted, "Hold up! Hold up!" the report stated.

The store clerk then crawled to the counter and got his own gun, the report stated. The clerk then pointed his gun at the masked person, who ran away.

The clerk gave chase and fired as the would-be robber got into a white vehicle, the report stated.

The robber took nothing from the store.

Orange County, Florida

From Orlando’s Local6.com of December 2, 2005

Store Owner Opens Fire On Robbery Suspects

A store owner in Orange County, Fla., shot and injured two teens fleeing his store after they had allegedly robbed him at gunpoint, police told Local 6 News.

Police said Floyd Harvell, 17, and Keenan Felton, 19, went into Sam's Discount Food Store in Orange County at about noon and demanded money.

One of the teens distracted store owner Sung Kim and the other went behind him and put a gun to the store owner's head, police said.

As the men turned to leave, Kim pulled out a shotgun and opened fire on them, Local 6 reporter Erik von Ancken said.

Both were hit by gunfire, according to the report.

Kim will not likely face charges in connection with the incident.

"They recently passed a new law but an investigation will still have to ensue to determine what happened in this and take it from there," Orange County sheriff's spokeswoman Barbara Miller said. "But, normally, if the state attorney's office felt the store owner acted appropriately, then no (charges)."

Both of the teens were treated and transported to jail.

They face armed robbery, grand theft and aggravated assault with a firearm charges.

Fairbanks, Alaska

From Anchorage’s Alaska Journal of Commerce of December 2, 2005

Robbery victim shoots suspects

Two men suspected of robbing a man in his mobile home were shot in the driveway by the victim as they fled, Fairbanks police said.

The man were hospitalized Thursday night with non-life-threatening wounds to their legs.

The name of the resident was not released.

Detective Dave Elzey said the men were shot at about 7 p.m. in the Peaceful Lane Trailer Court in the Lemeta Subdivision.

Police said two armed men entered the mobile home the man shares with his pregnant girlfriend and stole $50 and a cell phone.

The robbers appear to have picked the trailer at random or picked it by mistake, Elzey said. They told the trailer resident, "Where's your money? Where's your money? You know what we're here for."

"There doesn't appear to be anything here of value," the detective said. "This doesn't appear to be drug involved."

The trailer resident told police he suspects a drug dealer formerly lived at the residence.

The man told police he was not acquainted with the robbers, but they knew he had a safe and demanded to look inside.

The resident declined to give his name to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. He said he feared for his family's safety.

"I've got a son on the way," the man said. "I am not looking to mess around."

The man said he moved into the trailer a few months ago and has been burglarized twice, spurring him to install video monitoring equipment.

"It sounds like he'd had enough," Elzey said. "That's when a gun was eventually purchased."

One of the robbers may have shot back, Elzey said.

North Miami Beach, Florida

From Miami’s NBC6.net of December 1, 2005

Store Clerk Fires At Robbers During Gas Station Holdup

Police Believe One Assailant Was Wounded

A gas station clerk took matters into his own hands Wednesday night, shooting one of three robbers targeting his store.

Speaking in Spanish, Horatio Delgado said the men were armed and fired shots at him while robbing the Sunoco station on North Biscayne Boulevard.

"All three gunmen went into the business armed, masked and demanded money," said North Miami Beach Detective Rich Rand. "In fact, the owner of the business gave them money and did not put up a struggle and at some point they fired at the owner."

So Delgado fought back, grabbing a pistol under the store counter and firing at the men.

"He grabs a gun that he had in his business and returned fire in fear of his life, being shot at by three masked men," Rand said. "We believe he hit one of the subjects."

On Thursday, Delgado cleaned the trail of blood at the front door to a spot where the wounded man jumped into a getaway vehicle.

Police are looking for three black men who were driving a pickup truck. Rand said the break in the case might come when the wounded bandit has to seek treatment.

"Generally what will happen is people will fake a crime or try and hide the injury and say they were victim of a crime and a lot of times it is not reported to police," Rand said.