Armed Citizen Shoots a Repeat Criminal & Saves Lives in Detroit

Crime happens everywhere and at any time. In this case, the good guys were about ten miles northeast of downtown Detroit. They were attacked just before ten o’clock on a weekday night. An armed man with his concealed pistol license was headed to a delicatessen with his friend. You could go out for a snack and leave your gun at home, but they needed a firearm for self-defense that night.

The defender and his friend walked into a late-night delicatessen selling liquor. Two men followed them inside. One of the two men followed the defender as he left the store. The defender and his friend were near their car when the stranger yelled for them to stop. The attacker pointed a gun at the defender’s friend and told the defender to hand everything over. The defender had his concealed carry permit in his wallet, but he handed over his wallet. That is when the robber started to pat down the defender.

The robber stopped pointing his gun at the defender’s friend. That is when the defender presented his concealed firearm and shot the attacker in the chest. The wounded robber ran one way and the victims ran the other way. The news reports implied that the robber shot at the victims and missed them.

It isn’t clear if the defenders called 911 or if they even had their cell phones after they were robbed. Police responded quickly to the sounds of gunshots. The defender re-holstered his firearm and ran toward the officers with his hands in the air. The victims then told the officers what had happened.

The officers found the armed attacker nearby. They disarmed the wounded robber and found the victim’s wallet in his pocket.

The robber is a convicted felon who served several years in prison. He had prior convictions for armed robbery and weapons charges. It was not legal for him to have a gun, but only anti-gun politicians think that criminals obey our laws.

The police looked at the security video of the robber and his accomplice. They saw the robber point his gun at both victims. The defender was not charged with a crime. The news reports don’t mention if the police took the defender’s firearm as evidence.

Parts of this story are absolutely ordinary and some parts are unusual. This was a great example of waiting your turn which is also called tactical patience. Yes, we have every right to defend ourselves when we face a lethal threat, but the bad guy had his gun against our friend’s head. Let’s wait a moment until we have better opportunities for a successful defense. This defender acted when the robber’s eyes were looking somewhere else and the robber’s gun wasn’t pressed against his friend’s head.

This story is one of many that go under-reported by the mainstream media because it shows a positive image of a law-abiding gun owner defending their life and their family. It is our responsibility at AmmoLand to report these stories to you. While we will continue to report these stories, groups like the Crime Prevention Research Center, led by Dr. John Lott, are fastidious in studying the use of firearms for self-defense. Stay up to date with all news on self-defense by following CPRC and Ammoland.

About Rob Morse

Rob Morse writes about gun rights at Ammoland, at Clash Daily, at Second Call Defense, and on his SlowFacts blog. He hosts the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society Podcast. Rob was an NRA pistol instructor and combat handgun competitor.