A firefighter (also a reserve deputy constable) was working on his home under construction May 2018 in Zachary, La., at 3:30 a.m. when an armed male, 23, approached him while riding a bicycle. The robber demanded money, but when the firefighter said he had none, he was forced at gunpoint into his vehicle and told to drive to multiple ATMs, where he withdrew cash, according to sheriff’s deputies.
Unhappy with the amount of money, the robber told the firefighter to go to his residence and get his wife’s ATM card. The firefighter asked the man to wait outside because he had large dogs inside that would attack. The robber agreed but threatened to kill the man and his family if he didn’t return to the vehicle. Once inside, the firefighter told his wife to call 911 and armed himself. The robber became impatient, entered the house and was promptly shot once by the armed citizen, who disarmed the robber and detained him until police showed up.
The robber was briefly treated for injuries from the gunshot and released from the hospital. He was then booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and convicted Oct. 31 of aggravated burglary, armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping, the last of which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La., 11/1/2019; wafb.com, Baton Rouge, La., 5/7/2018, 6/27/2018)
Armed Citizen Extra
A 76-year old Genesee County man was forced to act quickly one Tuesday night in rural New York, when his evening was interrupted by an armed intruder. Upon answering a knock at his door, the burglar stuck a gun in the homeowner's face, and demanded money. After scraping together the money they had, the armed robber ordered them into a downstairs laundry room, at which point the homeowner was certain they would be shot. Refusing to be a victim, the 76-year-old took his chance while the robber was waiting on his wife to get in her stair-chair, went down to the basement and retrieved a shotgun. Hiding it behind his back, he waiting for the robber to enter the room before producing it, and sending a barrel's worth of bird shot at the unwelcome visitor. With the would-be robber neutralized, he called police, who retrieved the wounded intruder about 15 minutes later, ending the incident. (WGRZ, Stafford, New York, 11/6/2019)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
February 1975
Having been robbed just the night before, Mrs. Carol Williams, manager of a San Antonio, Tex., convenience store, responded to another demand for money by reaching under the counter "for the money bag." Instead, she came up shooting with a .22 pistol. The frightened robber fell to the floor, crawled to the door, and ran outside with an accomplice. (The San Antonio News, San Antonio, Tex.)
