Victim strikes back

Forced at gunpoint to bank, man kills back-seat suspect

By Sherri Drake
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August 10, 2005

He said they'd gotten him two weeks ago in his front yard, forcing him to the ground with a gun and stealing $400.

But this time, 59-year-old Jacob Evans was ready.



Tuesday, the same two robbers returned, telling him to withdraw $10,000 from his bank, or die, he said. Instead, Evans deposited six bullets in one of them.

"I got prepared for them," Evans said, standing outside the Criminal Justice Center Tuesday night. "Today they acted a damn fool and came back."

Shortly after 2 p.m., Memphis police arrived at First Tennessee, at 1200 S. Third, and found one of the robbers shot to death, lying face down in the back seat of Evans's Lincoln Towncar.

About 20 minutes earlier, Evans was pulling up to his home in the 300 block of Edsel in South Memphis, when the two 20-something men came out from behind some hedges with guns, forced a friend of his out of the car and jumped in. Evans was in the driver's seat, one robber was in the front seat and another in the back.

Evans had just gotten off work at Hershey Foods, where he's a sanitation worker. He was wearing his uniform and a blue hairnet.

With guns pointed at Evans, the robbers told him to drive to a nearby bank to get some money. He told him he didn't bank there, but said he had an account at First Tennessee.

"If I didn't withdraw $10,000, they said they were going to kill me," he said.

As he was driving, Evans said he looked for police but didn't see any and tried to work out a plan. The bank's about two miles from his house.

He pulled up to the teller window and told the men he would need a withdrawal slip to get the money. The front-seat robber handed his 9mm pistol to the back-seat robber -- who already had a .22-caliber rifle -- and went inside to get the slip.

Evans noticed a security guard leaning against the bank's wall and mouthed to him: "Call police, I'm being robbed."

The robber, sitting directly behind the driver's seat, asked him what he said and Evans told him, "I didn't say a damn thing."

The man kept turning around nervously to look at the security guard, Evans said. That's when Evans reached under his seat and pulled out a .357 Magnum.

"When he turned around, I unloaded six rounds in him," Evans said. "He didn't have a chance."

Evans bought the gun in the parking lot of a gas station the day after he was robbed two weeks ago. He'd cleaned it up, putting baby oil in the revolver, so it'd be ready if he needed it.

Evans said he got out of the car and started to reload when the other suspect came out of the bank. "He took off running."

He tried to shoot that suspect too, but his gun wouldn't fire.

Someone inside the bank called 911. When employees heard the gunshots, the bank was immediately locked down and remained closed Tuesday, said spokesman Walter Dawson.

Late Tuesday, investigators were looking for the man who ran away and were working to identify the man who died, said Lt. Toney Armstrong.

After being questioned by police, Evans said they told him he was free to go.

Police said late Tuesday their investigation will be turned over to the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office, as a matter of routine.

Evans said he has only one regret. "I didn't kill the one that got away."

Tuesday night, his family drove up from Mississippi to be with Evans, who said he was happy to be alive.

"It's really not something to be proud of," he said. "But I'm happy it was them and not me."

About our coverage

After much discussion, editors of The Commercial Appeal decided to publish today's photograph to focus public attention on the alarming rise in homicides and violent crime in Memphis. Editors felt that the circumstances of Tuesday's incident outside a South Memphis bank, in which an apparent robbery victim fatally shot one of his alleged abductors, warranted Page 1 treatment.

www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_3990677,00.html

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Six rounds from a .357, damn.

Quoted: Evans said he has only one regret. "I didn't kill the one that got away."

You gotta love this guy!

"Yeah, that's the spirit!"

Quoted: Evans bought the gun in the parking lot of a gas station the day after he was robbed two weeks ago. He'd cleaned it up, putting baby oil in the revolver, so it'd be ready if he needed it.

I thought guns were sold out of ice cream trucks.  

"Fillerup, give me a six pack of bud, and one of those 357's"

Southern states have a charm all their own.

Good shoot. Too bad the other guy got away. I bet he blew the chest out of that guy with that .357.

Quoted: But of course the gun didn't fire when he tried to shoot the second shitbird.   Unless he reloaded after the first six....I think this guy isn't a really experienced gun owner. I hope the dead bad guy remained conscious and suffered for a minute or two,  and had time to reflect on his really, REALLY bad decisions and what it got him. CJ

At least he made the right choice and got a revolver.  The first six shots worked!  Sounds like he reloaded with the wrong ammo or something.

What a great story to start the day!

So if he bought the weapon in a parking lot did, he get to keep it?  Or will end up as evidence or something?

All around sounds like a great way finish an afternoon.  

That's when Evans reached under his seat and pulled out a .357 Magnum.

I'm glad he wasn't in SC when admitting to that.  He'd be in jail for not having the gun stored properly in the car.  One local man got five years with IIRC 3 years of it suspended after he pulled a gun from under his seat during an attempted car jacking.  The retired cops I work with were very happy about that conviction.  Those guys really don't like the fact that under certain circumstances you can have a loaded handgun in your car in SC.z

ETA: The guy really shouldn't have done that much talking.  Just saying he "got prepared for them", (if I understand TN law correctly) used a gun that was stored illegally, and said he regretted not killing the other guy could get him in a lot of trouble.  That gives the cops too many pieces of information to use against him.  It's important to talk to a lawyer after a shooting so you don't dig a hole for yourself like a local carjacking victim did I mentioned above.

What's up with the baby oil?

Good story.

"When he turned around, I unloaded six rounds in him," Evans said. "He didn't have a chance."
Ain't that the truth! Bad guy was dean in a few moments. I bet the Lincoln did'nt fare so well either.

chalk another one up for the good guys

""When he turned around, I unloaded six rounds in him," Evans said. "He didn't have a chance."

Why do people say this stuff before they even know they are off the hook?

Kep your mouth shut after a shooting, first get a lawyer.

How'd you like to be the guy that cleans up that car?  Eeeewww.

Evans noticed a security guard leaning against the bank's wall and mouthed to him: "Call police, I'm being robbed." The robber, sitting directly behind the driver's seat, asked him what he said and Evans told him, "I didn't say a damn thing."

Could English not be their native language.

Should stayed in school MORON.  Now you're dead.  

Quoted: How'd you like to be the guy that cleans up that car?  Eeeewww.

Call the wolf of course...

Quoted: ""When he turned around, I unloaded six rounds in him," Evans said. "He didn't have a chance." Why do people say this stuff before they even know they are off the hook? Kep your mouth shut after a shooting, first get a lawyer.

I agree that you are right in a practical sense.

Still, this man lives in America where we are supposed to have the right to self defense. It ought to be obvious as hell exactly who the bad guys are here, and that they deserved what they got. The criminal justice system ought to give him an "attaboy!" and walk away.

He did nothing wrong in a legal or moral sense, and there is no way the courts should be used against him for defending his life. He is in the right and has the reasonable expectation that the courts exist to punish bad guys, not him.

Call the wolf of course... www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Misdaad/pulp3.jpg

Except the Wolf doesn't do the actual cleaning, he just tells you how to clean it up while he sips gourmet coffee

Six shots?  That's clearly excessive.  He probably only needed one or two at the most... this guy ought to be charged with abuse of a corpse....

Quoted: He tried to shoot that suspect too, but his gun wouldn't fire.

duh...maybe it didn't fire cause he shot all 6 rds in the first perp?

Anyway, good shoot.  And someone buy him some proper gun oil!

Quoted: So if he bought the weapon in a parking lot did, he get to keep it?  Or will end up as evidence or something? All around sounds like a great way finish an afternoon.

Once he's cleared it will be returned to him as long as he is able to legally own it and it's not stolen property. In TN it's A-ok to buy a firearm from a private party in a parking lot.

In the United States of 2005 our founders envisioned, the dirt bags would have already been removed from society (permanently) due to prior acts of stupidity and violence (you just know this wasn't their first violent & stupid act) and buying firearms (handguns, classII, "other"NFA weapons, etc.) anonymously from gas stations, 7-elevens or school fundraisers would seem perfectly normal. I,m glad the good guy won. I hope he doesn't spend the rest of his life defending himself in the courts from the "victim's family" but at least he still has a life to spend.

Quoted: Six rounds from a .357, damn.

Yeah, it stings a bit.

Quoted: Quoted: Six rounds from a .357, damn. Yeah, it stings a bit.

Just a little.

As said earlier, to clean the lincoln and buy new upholstery will cost him more that what he lost the first time he was robbed

It is nice to see more people in Memfrica shooting back.

Quoted: It is nice to see more people in Memfrica shooting back.

Werd homie.

With all the murders and car jackings you would think Memphis would be trying to fix that instead of fighting over the names of some parks...seesh, it is over, get over it..live life.

That's my kind of sumbitch!

Six shots from a .357!!!

Just a bit of chlorine in the gene pool.  

Quoted: In TN it's A-ok to buy a firearm from a private party in a parking lot.

Quoted: In the United States of 2005 our founders envisioned, the dirt bags would have already been removed from society (permanently) due to prior acts of stupidity and violence (you just know this wasn't their first violent & stupid act) and buying firearms (handguns, classII, "other"NFA weapons, etc.) anonymously from gas stations, 7-elevens or school fundraisers would seem perfectly normal. I,m glad the good guy won. I hope he doesn't spend the rest of his life defending himself in the courts from the "victim's family" but at least he still has a life to spend.

He should pre-emptivly(sp?) sue the 'vicitms family' for causing the asswad to be the way he was.

sweet!

I am telling the story to a guy at work and he says...

" That guy should go to jail. You can     can't shoot and kill someone even if you're defending yourself. You're only  suppose to hurt them so you can get away." Liberal pussies. I hate NY sometimes


eta: corrected statement above

Quoted: I am telling the story to a guy at work and he says... " That guy should go to jail. You can shoot and kill someone even if you're defending yourself. You're only  suppose to hurt them so you can get away." Liberal pussies. I hate NY sometimes

shoot him in the leg for being a pussy.

God forbid a criminal get killed while attemping to kill another. It makes me sick that people think like this. This is why we have gun control laws. I'm sorry but if someone is going to kill me and I have a chance to pop him then I will. I only have one life and no one is going to take that from me. All of these people that say "oh he didn't need to kill the guy..." can go fuck themselves.

Quoted: I am telling the story to a guy at work and he says... " That guy should go to jail. You can     can't shoot and kill someone even if you're defending yourself. You're only  suppose to hurt them so you can get away." Liberal pussies. I hate NY sometimes eta: corrected statement above

You guys in NY need to make sure everyone's water supply is okay - that's the only possible reason for a lot of the thinking there

I hope its not the case, but five bucks says the gun is stolen.

Quoted: Quoted: In TN it's A-ok to buy a firearm from a private party in a parking lot.

<---Tennessean

<---Parking lot aficionado

About our coverage After much discussion, editors of The Commercial Appeal decided to publish today's photograph to focus public attention on the alarming rise in homicides and violent crime in Memphis. Editors felt that the circumstances of Tuesday's incident outside a South Memphis bank, in which an apparent robbery victim fatally shot one of his alleged abductors, warranted Page 1 treatment.

One of the best parts of the whole story right there. A paper that will put a story like this on page 1
Along with a photo showing the dead suspect in the back of the car. A nice way to show all the asshats out there what can happen to them when they fuck with somone who just isn't going to take thier shit.


Anyone want me to post the photo? I have no problems with it, but it might get somones panites in a bunch I'm sure. Awe fuckit here is the photo, if it offends yer sensativities, oh fucking well, this is what can happen when you break the law. Especially when people get sick of being victimised by asshole criminals.

One less dirt bag!

That pic is avatar material.

Damn six rds of 357 at point blank range, geez must have been spraying blood all over the inside of that car!    That'll buff out !

Quoted: Call the wolf of course... www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Misdaad/pulp3.jpg Except the Wolf doesn't do the actual cleaning, he just tells you how to clean it up while he sips gourmet coffee

And while he's explaining it, you'd best keep your mouth shut!

The NRA has a program called "Refuse to be a Victim," and while the course really doesn't suggest this guy's tactics, I'd say he sure as heck exemplifies the spirit.  

Six shots of .357.  Guy learned his lesson.  Robbing the same guy twice and expect to get away with it?  

baby oil?  WTF, over?

Too bad he used this...



instead of this...



maybe his weapon wouldn't have malfunctioned and he could have gotten the other one



EPOCH

He tried to shoot that suspect too, but his gun wouldn't fire. Someone inside the bank called 911. When employees heard the gunshots, the bank was immediately locked down and remained closed Tuesday, said spokesman Walter Dawson.

I'm not sure if this is another example of great journalism or how it went down.   But doesn't the story read like 911 was called when the shots were fired, not when the victim told the security guard to "Call police, I'm being robbed."