Gates, New York

From Rochester’s 10NBC.com of February 12, 2007

A 72-year-old man catches his own crook

A 72-year-old Gates man took the law into his own hands when he captured a burglar in his home.

The suspect is identified as Eric Ray Mull. He's accused of breaking into a home on Buffalo Road around 10:30 Sunday night. Gates police say the homeowner, who has not been identified, heard a loud crash and grabbed his registered revolver.

The elderly man confronted Mull and ordered him to stop. When Mull refused, the homeowner fired his weapon, missing the suspect, then held him to the ground until police arrived to arrest him.

From Rochester’s RNews.com of February 12, 2007

Armed Resident Confronts Intruder

A Gates couple decided a number of years ago to have guns in their home. They believe without them last night, they wouldn't be alive today.

"My wife had just gone upstairs and I was lying on the couch and I heard this big crash," said Bill, the homeowner.
Bill realized the crash was someone breaking down the side door of his Buffalo Road home.

"He was screaming, ‘Someone's shooting at me, someone's shooting at me!’"

"I jumped up and grabbed the gun I always have where it's conveniently tucked away."

The 38 special is one of Bill's lawfully registered guns.

The man kept coming into the house.

"I was right here, and he was there,” said Bill, pointing in front of him. "I said ‘Stop or get down!’ and he kept coming at me and I fired the shot… he dropped to the floor."

The gunshot just missed Eric Ray Mull's head and hit the stairwell.

Meanwhile, the house was dark and Bill's wife was upstairs calling 911. She didn't know whether the shot fired came from her husband, or was aimed at her husband.

"It's very scary," said Bill. “If I would have aimed about three feet higher I would have caught her in the leg."

Since the gun was registered, no charges have been filed against Bill. No gun was found on mull (sic).

This is not the first time Mull had visited Bill's home. Mull came to the door last week asking for money to shovel the driveway. They told him to go away.

Gates police say Mull is a prior felon. He is now charged with burglary, criminal mischief and petit larceny. He remains in the Monroe County Jail on $50,000 cash bond.

Gastonia, North Carolina

From Charlotte’s WCNC.com of February 12, 2007

DA says shooting was self-defense

A Gastonia woman who shot and killed her ex-husband will not be charged with a crime.

Linda Friday just told WCNC that the district attorney decided the shooting was self-defense.

This weekend, Christopher Shane threatened to strangle Friday with an electrical cord and threatened to kill another man with a butcher knife.

Friday says she hid a gun in her wheelchair.

“It was either my life or his; I had to choose, and I did,” Friday said.

Winona, Minnesota

From the Winona Daily News of February 11, 2007

Police: Would-be liquor store thief may have been shot, still not found

Winona police were looking Saturday for a man who may have been shot while attempting to rob a liquor store Friday night.

According to police, a black man about 6 feet tall wearing a ski mask and dark jacket walked into the Golfview Liquor Store at 1671 W. Fifth St. shortly before 7 p.m., attacked the store clerk and demanded money.

The man threatened to shoot the clerk but did not show a gun, said Winona Police Sgt. Gary Hoeppner.

After a struggle, the would-be robber moved toward the front door, stopped and turned. The 60-year-old employee then fired one shot from a 0.38-caliber handgun.

The employee told police he believed he had shot the robber.

Police recovered one shell casing at the scene but found no blood or evidence of the bullet.

A passerby reported seeing a man run from the store and get into a red SUV.

Police said no one matching the suspect’s description had shown up at area hospitals with a gunshot wound as of Saturday morning.

There was no one else in the store at the time, and no money was taken.

Golfview owner Bill Ahrens said Saturday that he was held up once before “about 25 years ago” but didn’t want to discuss Friday’s robbery.

From the Winona Daily News of March 21, 2007

Nurse accused of helping alleged robber shot during Golfview Liquor holdup

Winona County prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Rochester nurse with four felonies in connection with the Feb. 9 robbery of Golfview Liquor store in Winona.

A third person may yet face charges, according to Winona police investigators.

Susan Anne Leathes, 36, faces four counts of aiding an offender. The charges allege Leathes, a nurse, treated her companion, Andre Jones, after he was shot during the botched robbery, and that she lied about it to Winona Police investigators.

According to a criminal complaint, the 37-year-old man was shot with a .38 caliber handgun by a Golfview clerk after he grabbed the clerk by the collar, demanding money and threatening to shoot the clerk. Jones was arrested two days later in Rochester and taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound in his back.

Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean said Leathes repeatedly lied to Winona police on the day after the robbery and told them she did not notice that Jones had been hurt.

Jones, who was released in July after serving more than 10 years in federal prison for robbing a bank, faces six felony charges in connection with the Golfview robbery. The most serious carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Two of the charges against Leathes carry a maximum possible sentence of one-half that faced by the offender she is accused of aiding. The others carry three-year maximum sentences.

The original report indicated uncertainty whether the perpetrator was actually shot.

From the Winona Daily News of March 30, 2007

No charges against liquor store owner

A grand jury declined to indict the owner of the Golfview Liquor store Thursday for shooting a man trying to rob his store in February.

Meanwhile, the man accused of robbing the store was in court as prosecutors sought permission to examine him for the bullet they say would tie him to the holdup.

The grand jury, which convened Tuesday, determined there was insufficient evidence to charge William Michael Ahrens, 60, with any crime in the Feb. 9 incident in which he shot a robber with one round from a .38 pistol he kept behind the counter.

Andre Dion Jones, 37, of Rochester was arrested Feb. 11 and remains in the Winona County Jail on six felony charges of robbery and attempted robbery of the store.

According to prosecutors, Jones was shot once in the back after he grabbed Ahrens, demanded money and threatened to shoot him. After his arrest, he was treated at St. Marys Hospital, where he told a doctor, in earshot of police, that he was shot in Winona.

Jones appeared Thursday afternoon in Winona County District Court, where Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean asked permission to X-ray Jones’ back in search of the bullet.

When Jones was arrested in Rochester two days after the incident, he asked to go to a hospital, according to the criminal complaint. Doctors discovered a bullet his lower back and opted not to remove it.

Jones’ public defender, Ross Phelps, argued that officers took Jones to the hospital even though he didn’t ask to go and had him examined without his consent or a warrant. Phelps argued that MacLean’s request is connected to that search and should be denied.

Phelps also argued that evidence indicated the robber was facing Ahrens when he was shot, while Jones’ gunshot wound was to his back.

District Judge Mary Leahy, who heard the request, said she would issue a decision in the coming weeks.

Prosecutors hope to discover a .38 slug in Jones that matches Ahren’s gun, which would place Jones at the scene.

Prosecutors have also charged Jones’ girlfriend and a man who allegedly drove Jones to and from the store with aiding the robbery, and MacLean said Thursday that both may be called to testify.

An evidence hearing has been scheduled for May.

Jones, who previously has been convicted of bank robbery, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge.

Salt Lake City, Utah

From the Salt Lake Tribune of February 11, 2007

Home-invasion suspect is shot

A man was shot multiple times early Saturday morning after he allegedly broke into a Salt Lake City apartment.

He was in critical condition Saturday night at LDS Hospital with wounds to the abdomen, chest and arm, said Salt Lake City police Lt. Dave Cracroft.

About 1:15 a.m., a 35-year-old man kicked his way into an apartment at 1168 S. 500 East and assaulted a man living there, said police Lt. Gary Layton. The resident's grown son retrieved a small-caliber pistol and shot the intruder, Cracroft said. The shooting victim ran to a nearby residence, where he fell in the yard.

Layton said the shooting appears to have been in self-defense and the gunman has not been arrested. He didn't know what spurred the alleged home invasion.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

From Albuquerque‘s KOBtv.com of February 10, 2007

Man armed with BB gun shot during robbery attempt

A man carrying a BB gun was shot by a Northeast Heights shop owner while attempting to hold it up Friday night.

The incident happened at about 7:30 at the Higher Source smoke shop near Lomas and Wyoming. The co-owner of the shop reportedly shot the suspected robber with a nine millimeter handgun.

When police arrived, they found the suspected robber with two to three gunshot wounds to the chest.

“It appears at this point that the offender, when he walked into the business, may have had a BB gun,” said APD spokeswoman Trish Hoffman. “It looks very much like a real gun and the business owner may have shot him.”

The suspected robber was rushed to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition. He has been identified only as a 34-year-old Hispanic man.

The co-owner of the shop was detained briefly for questioning and released.

From Albequerque’s KOBtv.com of February 14, 2007

Mother of robber says she’ll sue store owner

The mother of a man who was shot three times by the owner of store that the man was trying to rob says she intends to rob (sic) the store owner.

Lorraine Sena, the mother of 34-year-old Mitchell Sena, says her son admits to trying to rob the shop armed with a BB gun to get money for drugs. But she says shop owner John Kemm only needed to shoot her son once – not three times.

Kemm, the owner of Higher Source Smoke Shop, says, “I will do whatever I have to do to protect myself.”

Kemm’s version of the February 9th event and the version Mitchell Sena related to his mother differ.

“Through the camera, I saw a gun in his hand aiming at the register,” said Kemm. “I heard him shout, basically, ‘Give me all your money or I will shoot and kill you.’”

Kemm says he snatched his handgun and “at that precise moment I shot him with the first shot in the shoulder.”

Kemm says Sena continued to try to go for the BB gun, which Kenn thought was a real firearm, and Kemm shot Sena two more times – he claims in self defense.

But Lorraine Sena says her son claims the second and third shots were execution style and that her son begged not to be shot.

Police say that Mitchell Sena will be arrested and charged with armed robbery when he’s released from the hospital. Police have not charged Kemm with anything.

Denver, Colorado

From the Denver Daily News of February 9, 2007

Citizen catches robbery suspect

A bank robber was behind bars yesterday and all the stolen money was recovered thanks to the quick thinking and assistance of a good Samaritan.

Denver area resident John Adams was in the process of paying his mortgage at a Washington Mutual bank at 1705 Sheridan Blvd., at around 3 p.m., when he noticed a man walking away from the TCF Bank located directly next door at 1709 Sheridan Blvd, near Sloan’s Lake Park.

Adams’ antennas went up when he realized that the man walking away from the bank was holding a small grocery-like bag with red dye pouring out of it.

‘Funnier than crap’

“There was red smoke coming out of it, but he had no idea what was happening,” Adams told the Denver Daily News yesterday. “It was funnier than crap.”

Mr. Adams quickly told his broker that he may have spotted a bank robber, finished up his mortgage payment transaction, then called 9-1-1 from his cell phone. He was on the corner of 17th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Edgewater at the time, but the 9-1-1 call went to the Denver police dispatch.

Let police do their jobs

Denver police asked Adams for a description of the suspect and his location while Adams proceeded to jump in his car and carefully follow the man.

Adams has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but he said he felt no need to draw his weapon — he wanted to leave the police work up to the police.

“Why don’t you give us gun rights guys a plug?” Adams commented about his use of extreme caution and patience with a gun.

Persistance pays off

After losing the suspect for about three minutes, Adams caught up to the man again as the suspect entered an alley between Sheridan Boulevard and Zenobia Street near Colfax Avenue.

The suspect was in the process of taking off his sweatshirt that had been splattered with dye.

The man then moved out of the alley into a nearby motel parking lot when Adams noticed an Edgewater patrol car cruising up in the area. Adams flagged the officer down and in about 45 seconds, the Edgewater Police Department and the Denver Police Department together took the suspect into custody without incident.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Adams said. “I have a concealed carry permit like a million other guys, but I didn’t see any reason to pull my weapon out. I was not in any danger.”

Money recovered

All the dye-covered money was recovered from the suspect who is believed to have robbed the TCF Bank.

“A special thank you is directed to the very alert and concerned citizen, Mr. John Adams,” said Denver Police spokeswoman Det. Virginia Quiñones. “Without his involvement, it is not known whether or not this suspect would have been apprehended.”

Although his gun wasn’t “used”, having it surely gave him self-confidence to do what he did.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

From Murfreesboro’s The Daily News Journal of February 9, 2007

Police: Shootout started as social gathering

The two men who allegedly robbed two residents of Campus Crossings South before being shot themselves were invited in by a resident of the apartment complex, police said.

Three men were shot and one died Jan. 14 in Apartment 506 of the complex on South Rutherford Boulevard in southeast Murfreesboro.

"Evidently, it was a social gathering that turned into the aggravated assault and kidnapping," Murfreesboro Police spokesman Alvin Baird said Thursday.

Baird said the two alleged perpetrators had been invited into the apartment of Mike Holt, 22, prior to the alleged kidnappings and assaults.

Initial reports had indicated that that the two, Thomas John Eckerle Jr., 29, and Alan B. Bell, 21, had forced their way into the home with handguns.

Eckerle was arrested two weeks ago on two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping for his part in the robbery of Holt and Chris Deberry, 23.

Eckerle and Deberry were both treated for multiple gunshot wounds, and Bell died of multiple gunshot wounds at the scene.

Deberry, who is out of the hospital and being treated on an outpatient basis, told police he started firing at Bell and Eckerle when they put down their handguns to tie up him and Holt.

Holt, the apartment's resident, received blunt trauma to the head and was treated and released from an area hospital the same day.

A preliminary hearing in Eckerle's case has been set for Feb. 20 in General Sessions Court.

Police found a white powder believed to be drugs in the apartment and have said the incident is drug-related.

Baird said Thursday that unless other facts emerged in the course of the investigation no further charges are expected to be filed.