FLINT, Michigan -- This time, they shot back.
The owner of a clothing store, with a gun pointed at his head by a would-be robber, shot and killed the intruder on Friday.
Flint police Sgt. Jeff Fray said the owner used his left hand to push Paul C. Lee Jr.'s gun away.
That gun discharged, and the owner of LT's Clothing and Accessories pulled his own gun out and "proceeded to fire several shots at close range," Fray said.
Lee was hit multiple times, and died.
"Everything appears to be as (the store owner) said," Fray said. "It appears to be what we consider a justifiable homicide."
The store owner declined to comment to The Flint Journal.
Flint Journal extras
Clio Road shooting:
• Police are still investigating the Friday shooting at LT's Clothing and Accessories on Clio Road. Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Jeff Fray at (810) 237-6907 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 422-JAIL.
Fray said he believes the round fired from Lee's gun hit the Clio Road store owner's left hand. The owner was released after treatment from Hurley Medical Center.
Lee came into the store wielding a gun around the 9 p.m. closing time on Friday, Fray said.
Experts and residents interviewed by The Flint Journal said it's a clear case of self-defense.
"The legal standard is whether or not he had a credible, subjective belief his life was in danger," said Gregory Gibbs, an attorney with the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Gibbs said someone pointing a gun at you is about as cut-and-dry a self-defense case as you could have. He said there are other successful self-defense arguments when the shooter is not facing a gun, such as a knife or even if the shooter believes an intruder has a gun.
"I don't blame the store owner at all," said Cesar Salazar, manager of Arcade Inspirational Florists on Clio Road. "He was just trying to take care of his property, take care of his assets."
Dianne Martin, a real estate agent on Clio Road, said she doesn't know if store owners have guns, but she wouldn't be surprised if many did.
She said she personally doesn't own one, but she doesn't have money at her office so she's never had a problem with break-ins.
"I've seen this area deteriorate," Martin said. "I've been very concerned about the crime and the children in the area."
Lee, 42, was released from prison in October 2007, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections Web site. He had served more than 20 years on a murder conviction. Lee escaped from the downtown YMCA halfway house in 1985 and stabbed a man after an argument at East Lyndon Avenue, according to articles in The Flint Journal from 1985.
Salazar said the empty buildings on Clio Road have emboldened criminals, who don't have to worry as much about witnesses from neighboring businesses.
Tierra Price, director of Bright Beginnings Learning Center, which is also along Clio Road, said she's not too worried about their business, because they have a security camera and visitors need to be buzzed into the center.
But Price said a lot of crime has happened lately, including a man dying in the Family Dollar parking lot after being shot.
"It's Flint. Stuff happens all the time," Price said.
Andy Patel, who works at Dawn Donuts, said crime is a universal problem.
"It can happen anywhere. You never can tell," Patel said.
The owner of a clothing store, with a gun pointed at his head by a would-be robber, shot and killed the intruder on Friday.
Flint police Sgt. Jeff Fray said the owner used his left hand to push Paul C. Lee Jr.'s gun away.
That gun discharged, and the owner of LT's Clothing and Accessories pulled his own gun out and "proceeded to fire several shots at close range," Fray said.
Lee was hit multiple times, and died.
"Everything appears to be as (the store owner) said," Fray said. "It appears to be what we consider a justifiable homicide."
The store owner declined to comment to The Flint Journal.
Flint Journal extras
Clio Road shooting:
• Police are still investigating the Friday shooting at LT's Clothing and Accessories on Clio Road. Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Jeff Fray at (810) 237-6907 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 422-JAIL.
Fray said he believes the round fired from Lee's gun hit the Clio Road store owner's left hand. The owner was released after treatment from Hurley Medical Center.
Lee came into the store wielding a gun around the 9 p.m. closing time on Friday, Fray said.
Experts and residents interviewed by The Flint Journal said it's a clear case of self-defense.
"The legal standard is whether or not he had a credible, subjective belief his life was in danger," said Gregory Gibbs, an attorney with the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Gibbs said someone pointing a gun at you is about as cut-and-dry a self-defense case as you could have. He said there are other successful self-defense arguments when the shooter is not facing a gun, such as a knife or even if the shooter believes an intruder has a gun.
"I don't blame the store owner at all," said Cesar Salazar, manager of Arcade Inspirational Florists on Clio Road. "He was just trying to take care of his property, take care of his assets."
Dianne Martin, a real estate agent on Clio Road, said she doesn't know if store owners have guns, but she wouldn't be surprised if many did.
She said she personally doesn't own one, but she doesn't have money at her office so she's never had a problem with break-ins.
"I've seen this area deteriorate," Martin said. "I've been very concerned about the crime and the children in the area."
Lee, 42, was released from prison in October 2007, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections Web site. He had served more than 20 years on a murder conviction. Lee escaped from the downtown YMCA halfway house in 1985 and stabbed a man after an argument at East Lyndon Avenue, according to articles in The Flint Journal from 1985.
Salazar said the empty buildings on Clio Road have emboldened criminals, who don't have to worry as much about witnesses from neighboring businesses.
Tierra Price, director of Bright Beginnings Learning Center, which is also along Clio Road, said she's not too worried about their business, because they have a security camera and visitors need to be buzzed into the center.
But Price said a lot of crime has happened lately, including a man dying in the Family Dollar parking lot after being shot.
"It's Flint. Stuff happens all the time," Price said.
Andy Patel, who works at Dawn Donuts, said crime is a universal problem.
"It can happen anywhere. You never can tell," Patel said.
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