I live right behind a gunstore. This morning at ~4:30, the alarm at the store went off, so I grabbed my cell phone & G19 and out the door I went. Usually, the bad guys are gone (this is the 5th time since I have lived here that this has happened), so I am basically going to the store to keep the place secure until the cops arrive. Still, I was in a dead run until I got abut 50ft from the front of the store, when I slowed to call 911. There's a covered carport about 15ft from the side of the store, set back just a little from being even with the front, and told them about the alarm and all that.

As I drew up to the carport, I saw a car backed up under it. NO cars are supposed to be there after hours, and I told this to the operator, and at the same time, I heard somebody crashing around inside the store. I told the operator to tell them (the Deputies responding) to hurry, that the bad guys were still in the store.
He asked me to relay the car's tag number, and I got about halfway throuigh, when a guy came around the front of the store, running toward the car, with a shotgun in his hands. I lit him up with the light on my gun, and yelled "Drop your goddamn gun!"
(which the 911 operator had to have very clearly heard)

Bad guy turned and looked at me with a "deer-in-the-headlights" look, and then just for a split second, bent over as if he was breaking open the gun to load it (it was an over-under). Man, I tell ya...I goddamn near shot him, but since he didn't actually begin to aim the gun, I didn't. As it happened, he dropped it and a tire iron, and hauled ass across the hwy (US hwy 29, just south of Spartanburg). I told all this to the operator (who assured me that help was close by and on the way), and asked them to inform the Deputies coming that I would be armed, and gave them a description of myself.
A couple of minutes later, the first cop arrives, and I relayed theevents, showed him the car, the gun, the tire iron, the direction bad guy went, etc etc. Within just a couple more minutes, the front of the store was asshole deep in SCSD guys. The car had some stuff in it that was probably stolen, and was towed.

I cannot confirm the following; most of this was overheard from the SCSD radios or told to me by the owner's son, BUT:
Apparently, the tracking dog followed a trail right to the bad guy's housea few blocks away. The car was registered to one of the 4 people the cops rousted from the house, in which more guns and some drugs were found. The guy that belonged to the car matched the description I gave the cops.

I didn't try to chase down the bad guy after he dropped the gun because I really didn't want to leave an $1800 shotgun (a Browning Citori) lying out in the open, or leave the store itself unsecured. There is still a Browning shotgun missing. IIRC, it's a Golden Hunter model.

The cops were all cool about me having a gun, and none of them even batted an eye over it.

I wish I could offer a link to a corroborating new story, but so far, none of the local news outlets have any mention of this. There was a vehicle that briefly parked in the median, and a guy set up some sort of video camera on a tripod, but he appeared to be focusing on the guys searching across the highway in the direction the bad guy went. Hell, for all I know he could've been with the SD. Well, wtf...I and the owner's son each wrote a statement, and the incident report went 3 pages that I saw.

And there you have it.

tag before reading just to be 1st

Woah.  Not sure I would have been as lenient.  Glad you are ok.

in on 1 and in before the douche bags!

Wow, nice work!

do you own this store? If not did the owners thank/reward you for securing their property?

Tango

too long, did not read

Good work.  

Why risk your life for someone else's gun store?  No flame intended.

In my situation (prolly different than yours) I wouldn't risk my wife and kids not having a dad around for a situation like that.

Like I said, not flaming.

Neato.

I like it.

Friggin cool

Is this gun shop owned by yourself or someone close to you? I know sure as shit I am not taking the risk of getting killed over someone else's shit.

Nice work.



Just remember hesitation kills.

Cool, probably wouldn't have caught the guy with out your swift action.

I've always wondered why someone would rob a gun store, surely the chances of an armed confrontation are higher when robbing a place like that.

Especially the smaller mom and pop type places.

No, I don't own it, but the owner is my landlord. His son thanked me profusely, and the guy with the E6 stipes on his coller came over and thanked me & shook my hand. Don't really expect or need a reward.

you guard a gun store?  Are you an employee or just someone who happens to live next to it and come running out gun in hand when you hear the klaxon sound?

Nice job.

Well done, but did you blade?

glad your ok!

What gunshop?  I don't live far from 29

You better get a smoking discount at the shop...

But you still posted your stupid ass comment.  

Wow, glad it turned out the way it did.  Keeping guns out of the hands of trash like this is imperative.  That obviously could have turned real ugly real fast.  There is a fine line between self defense and brandishing.

I wouldn't risk getting killed either, but I also don't want to pass up an opportunity to shoot someone......I mean help keep the neighborhood safe

We both posted at the same time. The owner's my landlord. I came out to let the cops know  situation and to secure the store until they get there. The gun is one of those "just in case" things. As I said, most of the time, the bad guys haul ass as soon as the alarm goes off.

Glad to hear everything is ok. I haven't heard about this on the radio. Keep us informed.

Unlike the "not your store not your problem" guys, I just want to commend you for keeping stolen guns out of the hands of scumbags.

IN before swingset :D

Well Done!

A & B Aquarium and Sports. Swing by, and you will see brand new glass in the left side of the door. They called Kapasi glass after the cops left.

Probably not!  Old ass join date with a shitload of posts...



 

in

Awesome work. Not many people look out for their neighbors like you do.

in on one...

nice job! did you yell "YOU WILL NOT ROB MY GUNSTORE"?

In on page 1!!!

Nice work :)

IN on one!!!!!

Good job man

I was a cop up in Hendersonville before I went active duty.  B&E's were going crazy down there when I left.  A lot of the guys we'd pick up on the more serious stuff were from down there.

Great job !!!  

In on one of a potential epic thread...

Good job.  

Nice.

This is how you get DEEP discounts on guns !!!  Glad your ok !!

EDIT: In retrospect, you should have pulled the pin and thrown your glock at the perp as soon as you were out of it's killzone's blast radius.

Great job!

ah I see, nice going though I'd be cautioned over possibly losing your life over someone else's property.  While I fully commend you, in your opinion (you know the local law enforcement better than we), what would happen if you got into a full blown shooting with the perp and you took him down?  Do you think they would press charges on you?

You responded, challenged the bad guy, ran him off, secured the location, and gave great info to the responding officers.
You did the right thing not chasing him down - leave that shit to five oh.

Good job, people should stand up for whats right. Thankfully you werent hurt in the process, could have went really bad if he'd pointed that shotgun at you.

I assume they will be closed tomorrow?  I might stop by if not, not a huge fan of the other fun shops in the area, and helping a fellow Arcommer with their tennants might be a good way to go.

Nice job man

It's a 9mm G19. Blast radius too small for a human. Maybe a chicken, I dunno...