A backup gun can be handy
http://www.freep.com/news/locway/shot6_20030606.htm
I suppose that carrying a second, smaller gun comes in handy. This was two years ago.
Robbed ex-cop kills suspect
In critical condition, he wounds two other teens
June 6, 2003
BY BEN SCHMITT AND CECIL ANGEL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
A retired Detroit police officer shot and killed a man and wounded two others early Thursday morning after being robbed outside an east side bar, police said.
Robert Strickland was walking toward the Elbow Lounge on the 7300 block of Macknear Field in Detroit at 12:50 a.m. when he was approached by three teens. One brandished a gun and demanded money, said Homicide Inspector Craig Schwartz.
Strickland, 57, gave the young men $80 and credit cards. One of the teens then fired at Strickland, striking him in the stomach, Schwartz said.
The teens fled. Strickland opened fire with two handguns he was carrying legally -- a .25-caliber and a 9mm -- Schwartz said. He fired 17 shots, striking the 15-year-old suspect in the back and an 18-year-old suspect in the back of the left leg. The third suspect, Antonio Harris, 18, was killed after being struck in the head, Schwartz said. All three were from Detroit.
Stephanie Henry, a bartender at the Elbow Lounge, was working when she heard gunshots. She said she she kept working because it didn't sound close by and the bar has had little trouble with crime.
"It's a nice place," she said.
A moment later, Strickland, a regular customer, walked in and sat in the chair at the end of the bar nearest the door, Henry said. He appeared calm.
"He just sat down and told me to call the police," she said.
She barely remembers what happened after she found out he had been shot. "It was a scary feeling," she said.
The two wounded suspects were listed in temporarily serious condition Thursday night at St. John Detroit Riverside Hospital. Strickland was in critical but stable condition at Detroit Receiving Hospital. All three are expected to live, Schwartz said.
The wounded suspects were questioned by police. They face felony charges, including armed robbery.
No charges are expected against Strickland, Schwartz said.
Strickland, who lives in Detroit, joined the department in 1967 and retired as a sergeant on disability in 1986.
He had worked in the 11th (Davison) Precinct.
