Man drives car into gun shop, opens fire...

[heypete]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/10/BAgunshop10.DTL

Sweet Baby Vulcan!

That's the gun shop I frequent most often, and is about 20 minutes from my house. According to the news, nobody was hurt. The local CBS affiliate is covering the story as well, but with a more factual (and less anti-gun) stance.

The other gun shop I frequent around here also had a tow truck drive through the front door in the middle of the night, but that was an accident that happened when the driver was choking on food and lost control of his vehicle.

Perhaps I should stay away from gun shops, as they tend to have cars driven into them after I visit.

I'm not sure if the store was open (I doubt it, as it opens at 10-11am or so), so I'm not sure why the driver bothered shooting...

 

[Bart Noir]

Kids walking to school at 5:05 am? They sure do start early there.

Bart Noir

 

[Polishrifleman]

I wonder if this guy was trying to make a point as to the vunerability of the shop? If so that would prove him not too stupid because he did it while no one was there to shoot back.

I like the fact that she is talking about the kids walking to school although the incident happened hours before. Unless the kids are up and walking to school at 5:30 in the morning.

 

[HighVelocity]

When officers arrived, they heard shots being fired from inside the store. Police said Henderson came out of the business and was later arrested for burglary, shooting into an inhabited dwelling and felon in possession of a firearm

There you have it. I wonder who's Mercedes he was driving.

 

[50 Freak]

This is not good. Dmitri (who is the owner of this shop) already had a hell of time just getting permission to put his shop there. The "neighbors" complained it is bad for all the school kids around there and pretty much half the community was against it. (Nevermind the fact there would have been no uproar if it was a porn shop).

Anyways, this give the anti's more fuel to try and close down the only gun shop in Pacifica.

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

"We had said, this is the vulnerable thing about this shop, its all-glass front," [Nancy Hall, who led the charge to keep the gun shop out of her town] said. "That's exactly what happened. He rammed his car in there."

Unfortunately, being an anti doesn't prevent her from being right. All the gun shops around here could pass for tornado shelters.

- pdmoderator

 

[Cesiumsponge]

That seems to be a popular mode of breeching gun stores. I heard of it happening before and I vaguely remember hearing that my local gunshop here (Federal Way Discount Guns) from someone in passing (forgot exactly who) had a similar thing happen to them a long while back. They moved locations and now there is a rebar-reinforced brick planter deal right in front of the store right now.

I don't have any concrete sources and my memory didn't exactly record all pertinent information on where I got that tidbit of information but it doesn't seem like vehicles ramming a gun store is the first time it's happened.

 

[DelayedReaction]

I'm curious as to what measures the shop takes to ensure that their products aren't stolen in the event of something like this happening. The store I frequent (OnTarget in Jessup, Maryland) puts their inventory in safes each night.

 

[Dionysusigma]

The owner of this shop already had a hell of time just getting permission to put his shop there. The "neighbors" complained it is bad for all the school kids around there and pretty much half the community was against it.

Let's hope they never see Brigadoon Milsurp here in OKC...

... it's right across the street from Del City High School!

 

[heypete]

Indeed. Dimitry is a good guy. Shame this had to happen to him, but he's lucky that nothing was stolen or unaccounted for.

I've never been there around closing, but the fact that many firearms on racks around the store are consistently in the same place every day (even old Mosins and SKSs) leads me to believe that he doesn't lock everything up.

High-end guns like M1As are cable-locked to the wall. He does have several large safes in the back, and I know he keeps purchased firearms on waiting period in the safes, but I'm not sure about the "floor guns".

He has a ton of cameras and alarm sensors around, so they probably have video of the bad guy from numerous angles. Not that it really matters, as they easily caught him.

Needless to say, I suspect he'll invest in some of those car-resistant planters or barricades, bar the windows, etc. I'm sure his security setup passed ATF muster, as they inspect dealers for those very reasons (or so the paperwork that came with my C&R, but related to 01FFL dealers said).

Glad to hear that nobody was hurt; hopefully their store can be repaired and re-secured for minimal cost. I'm encouraged by the very rapid repsonse of police departments from Pacifica and surrounding cities.

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

I note that in stories like this, generally the vehicle used had been stolen.

So the answer to this problem, obviously, is to require vehicle owners to secure their vehicles so that it is impossible for miscreants to take and use them without being authorized.

No one would trash his own vehicle to get access to the guns, most likely. So if we hold people accountable for their vehicles getting stolen, we should solve the problem of vehicles getting stolen.

...Right?

-Jeffrey

 

[TallPine]

The hardware store where I used to work had all the long guns in steel display cages. In the morning the front panels were unlocked and removed, and in the evening the front panels were replaced and locked. Those damn doors were heavy, too.

But the pistols were just locked in the glass display counter.

Also, we had some stock in boxes in the back, though the average idiot probably wouldn't want to sort through them to figure out which were empy boxes and which had guns in them.

 

[dolanp]

Sounds fishy. The antis don't want the shop there, make a prediction about somebody driving through the glass, then somebody does it. Not only does he do it, but for no apparent reason. He busts open the shop, starts shooting it up, and then stays there and surrenders to cops.

Maybe the Brady Bunch has a Wetworks division, eh?

 

[Justin]

The local shop here has Jersey Barriers out in front.

 

[CleverName]

Pacifica, hmm? I'll make it a point to stop by and visit. Things being as they are in the SF Bay Area, they could use the support.

But I am surprised that it's just a plain glass storefront. All the other gunshops around there have barriers behind the glass.

 

[R.H. Lee]

So if we hold people accountable for their vehicles getting stolen, we should solve the problem of vehicles getting stolen.

Exactly right. And not only the owner, but the manufacturer of the vehicle needs to be held accountable. The car maker knew (or should have known) that their product would be used in a criminal act.

 

[UberPhLuBB]

What was he shooting at at 5 in the morning?

I've never heard of ANY gun shop opening before 9AM. Even Big-5 opens at 10AM.

Gun shops ought to reinforce their glass fronts or find centers with architecture that protect them, like my Turner's.

Even those little cement poles they erect in parking lots would be cheap and easy to install.

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

UberPhLuBB,

Could someone sledgehammer the window and get in?

- pdmoderator

 

[50 Freak]

The guy rammed the store in his MERCEDES. Sounds like someone didn't get nookie the previous night and needed to vent.

Either way, hope he is getting plenty of nookie in the pen from Bubba.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

I'm with dolanp. Sounds suspiciously like a putup job. Not that I'm paranoid or anything, but I just don't trust vehement antis to be responsible citizens.

 

[UberPhLuBB]

UberPhLuBB,

Could someone sledgehammer the window and get in?

Oh, I'm sure. But who does that? I've heard of many instances of vehicles being driven in but not heard of people just breaking windows.

Also, this particular Turner's has it's gun safes against the windows to the right of the door and on the left side of the door there is a 5 foot tall display case.

 

[thorn726]

When officers arrived, they heard shots being fired from inside the store. Police said Henderson came out of the business and was later arrested for burglary, shooting into an inhabited dwelling and felon in possession of a firearm


There you have it. I wonder who's Mercedes he was driving.

yeah and the first thing i almost wonder (after removing my hat) is maybe this clown jsut wanted to go back to prison.

second he was so high on speed this was his robbery plan possibly,
or third- putting hat back on- that some underhanded craziness is trying to make guns look bad in time for the ban.

lastly, i really do think gun stores should be required to be a heck of a lot tighter.

i wouldnt leave my money in a bank built like these gunstores that's for sure and with gun prices...............

i mean jewelry stores put all their good stuff away at night, bar the windows....