Customer pulls gun, stops robbery - WELL DONE!

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Outstanding.
Textbook case of why CCW benefits not just those who carry but those around them.
Although...
I can't believe the perp didn't just take charlie's gun and use it on him especially since he was so brazen to do gymnastics over the counter and get up close, why would the bradys lie to us? :p
 
Terrible.

He should not have gotten involved as a clerk could have died.
 
"He was turning against the other woman. He didn't actually see me coming up at first and then when he did, he turned around and I yelled at him to put down his weapon," Charile explained
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Lar read the post next time, he got the drop on him. He turned away from the clerk to face Charlie, clerk was no longer in imminent danger, and I would wager hitting the deck.
Big AttaBoy for Charlie!
 
This one worked out well. The next might result in Charlie and others being killed or wounded.

Each must make that decision for himself, but unless I believed the BG would shoot or seriously harm the clerk or others he could go ahead and rob the store.

Best,
Jerry
 
This one worked out well. The next might result in Charlie and others being killed or wounded.

Each must make that decision for himself, but unless I believed the BG would shoot or seriously harm the clerk or others he could go ahead and rob the store.

Best,
Jerry

wow. then why even carry a firearm? he pointed a gun at another person, threatening her life...what more do you need to glean about his intentions? the only thing missing from this happy ending is two quick shots to put the sewer scum down permanently. giving a violent criminal the benefit of the doubt in regard to his potential for harming someone gets people killed.
 
Good thing he doesn't work there. They would probably fire Charlie for being a "hero". I wonder if they will ban him from shopping there.... Good job for Charlie though....
 
this is the same story from a different paper....Why did he not have one in the chamber already???

Source

A grocery store customer in Indianapolis is being credited with halting an armed robbery by pulling his own weapon and pointing it at the assailant until police arrived.

According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, Charlie Merrell, 51, was in a checkout line at a grocery store called Bucks IGA on the city's south side when a "masked man jumped a nearby counter and held a gun on a store employee."

The police report cited by the newspaper said the incident happened at 5:17 in the afternoon Monday as Merrell was doing some year-end shopping.

"While the suspect was demanding cash from the workers," according to the police report, "Merrell pulled his own handgun, pointed it at the robber and ordered him to put down his weapon."

The newspaper noted that Officer Jason Bockting, in his documentation of the incident, said when the suspect seemed to hesitate, "Merrell racked the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber."

At that point, the report said, "the suspect placed his gun and a bag of cash on the counter, dropping some of the money … the suspect removed his mask and lay on the floor."

Merrill, meanwhile, held the suspect at gunpoint until officers arrived and took him away in handcuffs.

Police reported Merrell had a valid permit to carry the handgun, and they recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun and $779 cash from the suspect.

Police records show Dwain Smith, 19, was being held in the Marion County Jail on a bond of $30,000 on initial charges of robbery, criminal confinement, pointing a firearm, battery and carrying a handgun without a license.
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Stepping on the guy and aiming the gun at him is a really great deterrent to the bad guy from moving. As long as you have the resolve to actually shoot (not sure of the legality of this) but you'll be able to shoot before he could wiggle free. Though probably the best place to be is about 6-8 feet behind him.

Movies show guys with guns always waaaay to close to the person they're escorting/holding. You want distance. Your gun has several hundred meters of range. His fits has 1 meter of range.
 
So I take it you guys don't think a .357 can knock a gun out of someones' hand? Why is that so preposterous? Surely if you've gotten close enough you could hit it... Why not sneak up and give him a good pistol whip if you can? If a guy can take a pistol whip he would have started shooting at you anyway.
Back to more serious ideas though, maybe it'd be good to carry a couple of zip-ties with your gun so you can have a witness 'cuff' him. I know I would feel more than a little exposed with my foot on BGs back, and I'd want to be able to focus on the (real or non-existant) accomplice.
 
Why did he not carry a pair of handcuffs? If the guy wanted to play cop and hold someone for the police, we should have done a citizen's arrest, cuff him and sit sipping coffee.

I see so many things that the man did wrong, but then he probably had not had Tactical or Advanced Tactical training. All the same, PLT, it worked out right. My take though, this criminal was particularly dumb, and unprepared.

JMHO,

Doc2005
 
My take though, this criminal was particularly dumb, and unprepared.
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Obviously he was....
...and they recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun and $779 cash from the suspect.
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He forgot to load his gun. LOL Rookie criminal mistake I guess. Maybe thats why it didnt bother him until the guy racked the slide. I guess he figured everyone carries an unloaded weapon.

+1 for the good guys. Glad no one was hurt.

Matt
 
Terrible.

He should not have gotten involved as a clerk could have died.
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And it's equally as likely that if he had NOT gotten involved, the BG would have killed someone.Plenty of evidence of BG's deciding to shoot people when they either did nothing or complied with the BG.
2 choices: get involved, or not.2 possible outcomes: someone gets shot, or not. Either scenario, for either choice is just as possible.You gotta pick something.I'd rather try to help and have it go bad, then do nothing, STILL have it go bad, and have to wonder why I didnt at least TRY.Just me though.YMMV on which would be easier for you to live with.thinking someone died because you did nothing, or thinking someone died because you did something.Both would be pretty equally devastating.I just THINK I'd be a LITTLE less devastated if I at least TRIED to help, rather than didnt.Horrible choice to have to make for anyone, regardless.
 
He forgot to load his gun. LOL Rookie criminal mistake I guess
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No, some robbers simply use a firearm as a leverage/threat tool. No intentions whatsoever of actually using it. Problem is, there's no way of knowing.

I really have to give this Charlie guy props for not shooting the guy right off the bat. Maybe a bad thing, but this time it worked and everyone stayed alive.
 
Some of the responses to this story are truly upsetting to me. I'm not even commenting on "Charlie's" decisions, but if you carry a handgun for personal defense, please do ME a favor and learn the law inside and out. Suggesting a tactic when you are in fact "not sure of the legality of" it makes me cringe.

Legally carrying a concealed handgun is a privilege. Not knowing the responsibility that goes along with it, and the laws by which you must abide will land you permitless, fined, jailed, or executed. It will also give anti-gun voices more ammunition with which to strip ME of MY rights. So for your sake and mine, educate yourself on the law, take some handgun classes, and develop peace of mind knowing that you could handle any given situation in which you would need your weapon, and not just in the fact that you have a handgun and a permit on you.
 
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Some of the responses to this story are truly upsetting to me. I'm not even commenting on "Charlie's" decisions, but if you carry a handgun for personal defense, please do ME a favor and learn the law inside and out. The idea is to carry a gun should you ever need to save a life. Suggesting a tactic when you are in fact "not sure of the legality of" it makes me cringe.

Legally carrying a concealed handgun is a privilege. Not knowing the responsibility that goes along with it, and the laws by which you must abide will land you permitless, fined, jailed, or executed. It will also give anti-gun voices more ammunition with which to strip ME of MY rights. So for your sake and mine, educate yourself on the law, take some handgun classes, and develop peace of mind knowing that you could handle any given situation in which you would need your weapon, and not just in the fact that you have a handgun and a permit on you.
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Not sure what your referring to with all that,but if what your hinting at, is saying Charlie should not have pulled his gun, in MY state at least, using a firearm to stop ANY feolony being commited in your presence (doesnt matter if its a violent felony, or not) is 100% legal, and specifically spelled out as such in state law.
If thats NOT what you were getting at, then please disregard this, as I obviously dont know what your referring to.

Edit to add: if your referring to the 1 comment about whether or not is possible to train to shoot a gun out of a bg's hand, I'll agree thats a phenominally bad idea, to even try, for LOTS of reasons.
 
Not sure what your referring to with all that,but if what your hinting at, is saying Charlie should not have pulled his gun, in MY state at least, using a firearm to stop ANY feolony being commited in your presence (doesnt matter if its a violent felony, or not) is 100% legal, and specifically spelled out as such in state law.
If thats NOT what you were getting at, then please disregard this, as I obviously dont know what your referring to.

Edit to add: if your referring to the 1 comment about whether or not is possible to train to shoot a gun out of a bg's hand, I'll agree thats a phenominally bad idea, to even try, for LOTS of reasons.
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I stated that I wasn't refering to the story. I have a sense of humor about everything, despite how serious I am in my previous post, and assumed the "shooting the gun out of the hand" was a joke.
 
Just a guess, but he probably had a foot on the guy so that he didn't get away. The longer the perp lays there, the more time he has to think "I'll just get up, jump the counter & run out-this dude ain't gonna shoot me in the back!"

Sam

I think when the rookie robber saw the muzzle of Charlie's pistol inches from his nose, and saw the size of the hole in it, 90 calibre! Looked like that any way, he decided to be nice, foot on back kept him nice! Good deal Charlie.
 
FWIW... in Indiana everything Charlie did was 100% legal.

He responded with an appropriate level of force.
He detained the perp... again with an appropriate level of force.

The perp is lucky he's not dead... which also would have been an appropriate level of force in this stituation, IMHO.

Charlie should get a medal.
 
At that point, the report said, "the suspect placed his gun and a bag of cash on the counter, dropping some of the money … the suspect removed his mask and lay on the floor."

...

Police reported Merrell had a valid permit to carry the handgun, and they recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun and $779 cash from the suspect.
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Was this his second hit of the day?
 
Police reported Merrell had a valid permit to carry the handgun, and they recovered an unloaded .380-caliber handgun and $779 cash from the suspect.

Police records show Dwain Smith, 19, was being held in the Marion County Jail on a bond of $30,000 on initial charges of robbery, criminal confinement, pointing a firearm, battery and carrying a handgun without a license.
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LOL... not old enough to buy handgun ammo!

But when he gets out he will be.

I wonder if staring down the barrel of a gun will have any impact on his career choice.
 
I figured I would say well done to this guy before the Monday morning quarterbacks jump in and say how it isn't worth risking a life over a theft in a convenience store, blah, blah, blah....
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It is stupid to risk a life over a theft of property that isn't your own. However, the issue of the theft became secondary to the fact that lives were threatened by the bad guy when he produced his weapon. At that point, it becomes a life or death situation because the robber is threatening to shoot folks, even if just implied by his actions, if they don't give up the goods.

I'd love to see the Brady Bunch response to this.
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This is an easy one. They would say if nobody had guns, then the bad guy would not have been able to rob the store with a gun. The fact that Charlie stopped the robbery with a gun would be moot in their logic because it was a gun that was enabling the robber to conduct the robberty. Yes, guns can be used for good, but obviously guns can be used for evil. It may be unrealistic, but that would be the crux of the argument.

That was a key takeaway for me as well. No need to be that close to the perp. 10 to 15 feet would be just fine for me.
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Yep. Once disarmed, the bad guy's effective range is no further than his reach or kick. Being inside that range, even with a gun at the bad guy's head, means there is an increased risk to the good guy.

I agree completely with this. Also REMEMBER, you must ALWAYS assume that there is more than one bad guy and take care to keep scanning the area for any remaining threats.
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Yep, supposedly in about 60+% of the time, there is one or more accomplices. They aren't always actively involved in the threat and may just be performing as lookouts or drivers, but sometimes they are there as a backup for just such an emergency as having to deal with Charlie.

I can't believe the perp didn't just take charlie's gun and use it on him especially since he was so brazen to do gymnastics over the counter and get up close, why would the bradys lie to us?
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It can happen, hence the statement about not being too close to the bad guy.

wow. then why even carry a firearm? he pointed a gun at another person, threatening her life...what more do you need to glean about his intentions?
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It isn't that the robber's intentions weren't clear. Some of us don't carry guns to protect strangers. We may do so, but that isn't the reason why we carry. Putting ourselves in danger and risking losing our own lives versus letting the clerk's life getting risked isn't seen as a good trade off given the fact that we have others to whom our lives are necessary. Getting myself killed or crippled saving a stranger doesn't help my family at all and they depend on me.

"Merrell racked the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber."
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If this is true that Charlie carried a semi-auto with an unchambered round (as opposed to the original statement that he cocked his gun...apparently a revolver), then Charlie did act rather stupidly. The only reason he didn't get shot was because the robber's gun was in a similar inoperable condition. That is just great. Two guys drawn down on one another and neither has a gun that will fire. It sounds like an incident from Dumb and Dumber. Of course, this version of the story comes from the very reputable WND. (sarcasm) However, it was also in the Indy Star http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080102/LOCAL/801020457
 
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